On the Brink: Alternate
by FunnyGinger08
Summary: So this is an alternate version of On the Brink. It's basically got stuff that would've worked out well, but I didn't do. On the Brink (Rewrite)'s going to be my focus, so I'm aiming to update this every Friday. Don't really know anything about if I'm going to do pairings or not, or what I'll have in here. Rated M for any future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

On the Brink: Alternate

Intro

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

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**Journal of Doctor Catherine E. Halsey**

**Humanity. A race, a culture. We have such a rich and fascinating history, that'll it will be a shame as our race is pushed to the brink of extinction, yet again. Despite all of our efforts, all of our work, it seems that this time, we will fail. The Flood is something we should never have waited on, we should have taken the offensive. I doubt President Udina will ever forgive himself for not listening to us. But we all know the situation now, and not many of us know about our past.**

**In the time of the Forerunners, our race was just as strong as the Forerunners, if not stronger. While not in open warfare, tensions were very high as we challenged them time and time again on their Mantle. We believed that we were the ones who had been the Precursors' Chosen Ones, not the Forerunners. Stupid, stupid. If only they had worked together, then maybe we wouldn't be in the mess we are in. But you know what they say, hindsight's 20/8.**

**In the Cold War between the Forerunners and our Prehistoric selves, Humanity made a fascinating discovery. Abandoned ships, long abandoned, carried a powder. When used, it showed traits that made their version of dogs better in their eyes. Soon, everyone was using it on their pets, and even our allies, the San 'Shyuum, used it. If only they knew what the powder truly was.**

**The Flood struck hard and fast, the powder accelerating their advancement onto Human worlds. As world after world fell, and the Lord of the Admiralty and his fleets tried to stop them, Prehistoric Humanity grew desperate. Soon, they decided that they needed to expand to avoid the Flood. And the only way to do that was through Forerunner territory.**

**Seen as the aggressive move it was, and after a species was moved from their homeworld to allow Humans to move there, the Forerunners went to war. Despite the two-front war we were fighting, we managed to keep their advancing slow, giving the capital of the Human-San 'Shyuum empire, Charum Hakkor, time to prepare for the inevitable assault.**

**With the war on two fronts grinding down on the fleets, a desperate choice was made. And so two-thirds of the population was sacrificed to stop the Flood, and they willingly did so. But it was too late to save the situation, and the Forerunners continued to advance to Charum Hakkor. **

**For fifty years, despite the San 'Shyuum resupply armadas being cut off, we held off the Forerunner assaults, but they grinded us down. Not one of the Humans on Charum Hakkor lived, preferring to fight and die. Much like the suicide by cop of the 21st century. **

**And so we went through devolution, and were put back on our Homeworld of Erde-Tyrene, or Earth. The Librarian's Lifeworkers watched over us, even trying to help us get back to where we were. But then the Flood struck the Forerunners and everything went to shit.**

**Faber and his Builders built the Halo Array, and exiled the Ur-Didact to Earth. After being released, he began trying to find a way to gain immunity from the Flood. And so the Prometheans were created. His own Warrior-Servants went first, and then he conscripted Humanity into it. The Librarian then exiled him and the Prometheans to Requiem, where he would be trapped for millennia.**

**And so the Halo Array fired, exterminating the Flood's food source. Once the Flood was gone, the Librarian's Lifeworkers reseeded the galaxy, ushering in a new era for the galaxy, a time of peace.**

**Humanity slowly climbed the Technological Scale, fighting many wars along the way, all culminating with World War Two, the last Great War. And on July 20, 1969, we reached the moon. Within the next century, we began to colonize the Sol System, and yet more wars occurred. The Jovian Moons Campaign, the Rainforest Wars, the Mars Campaign, and the Interplanetary Wars. Each one was a deadly conflict, yet gave the United Nations the experience it needed.**

**2170 saw the end to the fighting with Callisto Treaty, and saw the beginning of the United Earth Government. A new era had begun for Humanity.**

**In 2310, with the creation of the Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive, we began to colonize outside of our solar system, going to the nearest planets and systems, giving birth to the Inner Colonies. The overpopulation issue on Earth was solved, and the UNSC had something to do.**

**Over eight hundred worlds were colonized by 2490, and so Humanity was prosperous, albeit still full of unrest. The Inner Colony Wars were a terrible conflict, but again, they were much needed. I doubt we would've survived the Covenant if it wasn't for the Inner Colony Wars. **

**Reach became a fortress, the baby of the UNSC. Heh, a lot of good that did when the Covenant showed up. **

**And then the Insurrection. A full-blown war, between the UNSC and civilians mostly from the Outer Colonies, who felt like they were being treated second-class compared to the Inner Colonies and wanted out. The UNSC was unprepared for this type of warfare, something that hadn't been seen since the 22nd Century. They were used to full blown out fighting, not an insurgency. Bombings, assassinations, even the whole Insurrection caught the UNSC by surprise and left it floundering. But they stepped up to the plate.**

**ONI came about at this time, providing intelligence to the UNSC and CMA on where the Innies were being based out of. Section Three took over Special Operations while the UNSC retrained their current operators to fight in urban environments and against the cowards who would hide among the civilian populace. The first two years, Section Three gave the Innies nightmares before UNSC Special Operations Command took over.**

**ODSTs took up the hunt for the Insurrectionist leaders, operating in the middle of the night as they hit bomb-making plants, armories, and the homes of Insurrectionist leaders. When the Army and Navy had to participate, the Rangers and SpecWarCom performed their jobs spectacularly. **

**But the Insurrection was still getting out of control, and so the ORION Project began, the predecessor to my own Spartan-II program. Counter-insurgency squads took over the hunt, and despite their many successes, including the suborbital transit station over Eridanus II, the project was cancelled and they were folded into other SMUs. **

**As the Insurrection spiraled out of control even more, I made a monumental decision that changed Humanity as we know it. I went to the DNI for permission to start the Spartan-II program. Knowing that the Insurrection was getting well out of hand, she approved. And so, with the help of at the time-Lieutenant Junior Grade Jacob Keyes, I scouted out the potential recruits for the program. Yes, they were kids. But where would we be without the Spartans?**

**And so we flash cloned the kids, to avoid the evidence of us kidnapping them. The flash clones lived far longer than I thought they would, as a result of the nurture and care that the parents of my Spartans gave the clones to keep them alive. After that, flash cloning revolutionized.**

**I will never forgive myself from what I did to the recruits. Taking them from their homes, forcing them through that training, and the augmentation process. But I won't deny that it was MY program that saved Humanity. If it weren't for the Spartans, we wouldn't have lasted as long as we did. Not only were the Spartans walking tanks that did more damage to the Covenant than any other, except Vice Admirals Cole and Whitcomb, they motivated our military to keep fighting, even long into the decimation of the fleet in space, or after everyone in their company was killed. My Spartans inspired extraordinary courage that kept us fighting and not going quietly into the night.**

**And on that fateful day when Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 arrived on Installation 04, everything changed. He stopped the Installation from activating and wiping out all life as we knew it, then he destroyed the Prophet of Truth's massive fleet which was heading for Sol with the help of Linda-058, Grace-093, William-043, Fred-104, Lieutenant Halverston, and Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb. The destruction of that fleet undoubtedly saved Earth.**

**And everyone knows what happened next. Sol was invaded, not once, but three times. Regret's fleet, who was chased down to Installation 02 and killed. Truth's fleet, chased to Installation 00, or the Ark. And then the Flood. All I can say about that is that we were lucky with the Great Schism. **

**Once the war was over, and we had achieved peace with the Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Lekgolo, Yanme'e, and Huragok, everyone thought that everything was fine as we hunted down the Brutes and the remaining Prophets. But no one expected the Sangheili Civil War to escalate so quickly and fiercely. Even Parangosky knew she had made a mistake on that one.**

**Sanghelios, glassed. So many other worlds glassed by the Remant as they tried to gain control. And then the Brutes joined in, fighting alongside the Remant as they tried to defeat Thel 'Vadam and his forces. The _Infinity, Pillar of Spring, Spirit of Earth, and the Port Stanley_. Each one of these ships assisted 'Vadam's forces, but despite the _Infinity__'s _extreme firepower, it wasn't enough, and the Sangheili had to be evacuated from their worlds and to UNSC-controlled worlds as the Remant escaped to Requiem with the Loyalists. With revenge on our minds for our allies, we had fleets go out to hunt them down.**

**The _Infinity_ found Requiem by accident, following the beacon of the _Forward Unto Dawn_. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that the Chief was not only alive, but also fighting against the Remant and the Loyalists who were trying to access the Didact's Cryptum. They had been pulled into Requiem, but with the help of Chief, they managed to get out. And they left my Spartan by himself, with no support on Requiem. To normal people anyway. But he had Cortana.**

**And so they pursued the Didact and his vessel to first Ivanoff Station, where he tried his best to save everyone on the station. But despite his efforts, the Didact managed to get the Composer and fire it at the station, turning everyone onboard but John into data. And then he followed the Didact, commencing the first Slipspace jump in something other than a ship. **

**When they got out of Slipspace in the Sol System, John, with the help of then-Commander Thomas Lasky and the _Infinity_, boarded the Didact's ship and hunted him down. He wasn't quite fast enough, and the Composer fired at New Phoenix. But unlike normal people, he didn't give up. He never quits. The HAVOK completely destroyed the Didact's ship, and despite all odds, he managed to survive the explosion, thanks to Cortana. It wasn't until much longer that we learned why.**

**And so the _Infinity_ went back to Requiem to finish off the Remant and the Loyalists, who were still a threat. Their efforts weren't enough, and the Didact's Hand, Jul 'Mdama, escaped. I'm ashamed to say that I was with him when he escaped, being held as a prisoner who he thought was willing to help him for revenge. When Fireteams Crimson and Majestic rescued me from his clutches at Installation 06, he must've been surprised by knife that went into his neck. With the completed Janus Key, we began searching for the Installations while helping John in his search for Cortana, who he knew was still out there. **

**Imagine our surprise when we found her in an abandoned Forerunner Frigate, keeping one of Mendicant Bias's corrupted fragments from corrupting her even further and getting her in the service of the Flood. With the help of Fireteams Crimson, Majestic, and Talon, the _Infinity_ and Battle Group Dakota, and all of their ground forces, John went to the surface of the planet where the Frigate had been put, and fought against the forces controlled by Mendicant and the remaining Prometheans. Despite all odds, and a lot of sacrifices given by the ground forces who believed in the Chief, along with the help of Offensive Bias, John managed to get Cortana safely away, and to me, allowing us to repair her rampancy. I wonder where we would be right now if we didn't have Cortana. **

**We began our search for the Forerunner Archives, but instead of finding the Archives, we found the Relay. And we all know how things went from there. **

**I fear this is my last entry, for they have arrived in system, and I can see the burning hulks of our ships as they fall into the atmosphere. If they show up on my doorstep, I'll make sure that I take a few of them with me. **

**The date is 27 July, 2710. And the Epsilon Eridani system is under attack.**

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A.N.: So yet another version of On the Brink. I might call it a different name, because 'On the Brink: Alternate'. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this one whenever it comes out. And what did you think of my alternate version of a timeline?


	2. First Contact-Part One

On the Brink: Alternate

First Contact-Part One

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, not even my ideas. Go ahead and take them.

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_"The Sangheili nearly went extinct after the Loyalists joined in the Civil War on the side of the Remant. And unlike the Remant, they didn't care about the Sangheili worlds. After Sanghelios was glassed and half of P-33, never given an official name since there was never time, being glassed, Captain Thomas Lasky authorized the evacuation of the Sangheili from their worlds, with the Apaches evacuating as many as they could while the Infinity and the Spirit of Earth covered them. Lasting three weeks, in seven different systems, this was the largest evacuation ever done within UNSC history. The Sangheili population, having been decimated to only three billion people after the Loyalists began glassing their worlds, has been steadily getting their population back up, under our protection to stop another crisis from happening."_

_-Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Scott, Military History Professor at West Point_

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**June 17, 2562**

Captain Thomas Lasky stood in the Pelican dropship as it descended to Armstrong Station. He looked behind him at the four Marines who acted as his security. Their MA5K carbines were locked and loaded, ready for any threat. They were even ready for an attack by Spartans, their magazines a mixture of AP and shredder rounds. No chances were taken when it came to such an important person as the Captain of the UNSC _Infinity_. And especially in a situation like this.

When the Pelican landed, two of the Marines preceded him while two followed. A scientist, who's name was Dr. Robenson according to his nametag, led them through the hallways of Armstrong Station until they reached Armstrong's command center, which gave them the perfect view of why Armstrong Station was here.

A massive object had been discovered by the _Infinity_ and Battle Group Dakota as they searched for the illusive Forerunner Archives. Despite the Janus Key, which had given them a treasure trove of information and technology with the locations of Shield Worlds and the Halo Installations, it only had hints leading to the Archives.

The massive object looked like a fork, and it currently had no purpose that they knew of, although they knew quite a bit about it. It was powered by Element Zero, something that had recently been discovered in a lab on Io, and it was definitely not of Forerunner origin. The architecture, and the materials used, were all wrong. But the Director of Armstrong Station had called for a meeting, and from the Priority on it, Lasky knew it was important.

The Director, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, was standing next to three scientists showing them something on her datapad. When she turned around, seeing Lasky, she headed over to him, while the scientists went to their consoles. Halsey did something on her datapad as she walked to them, and an image of the object appeared on the holotable they were standing around.

She said, "Yesterday, a probe we sent managed to get some information on the object from some sort of hidden cache. It raised red flags of course, but it's all we have."

Halsey moved her fingers over the datapad, and the image on the holotable became animated. A ship, one more streamlined than the boxy ships of the UNSC, appeared, and approached the fork. Lances of energy struck the ship as it moved alongside the fork, until it disappeared. A new image appeared, this time showing the ship reappearing.

Looking at the image for a moment, Lasky asked, "So it's a FTL device?"

Halsey, still looking at her datapad, said, "Yes, Captain. Except the Element Zero that powers it opens a hole in space-time for a ship to move through, and it sends it to another one. They're called Relays. And unlike our FTL, these shoot you across hundreds of light years, even thousands of light-years away. Apparently, these Relays form a network across the galaxy. There's two different kinds. The primary Relays, which connects to a single Relay that's thousands of light-years away. Then there's the secondary Relays, which only sends you a couple of hundred light years away, but you can go to multiple Relays. And it all leads to this."

Here, an image of a massive space station, almost fifty kilometers long, appeared on the holotable. It had five arm-like extensions coming from an open circle, almost like a cylinder.

"What is it?"

"The Citadel. It's constructed from an unknown material, although it is the same material as the Relays. What's curious about this, is that the Relay network leads to this, no matter which way you go. Almost as if it's a-"

Lasky, his mind thinking of the network in a military manner, interrupted, "A trap. It's a space station, massive. And here, you can tell that it's already perfect to be a galactic center. See, there's buildings, gardens, ponds, a whole manner of things. Anyone who finds it is obviously going to be so excited to find something that massive, and they're most likely thinking that it's from a race like the Forerunners, that they'll make it their capital, like the Prophets did with High Charity. Do you know how to activate it?"

"Yes. You send the amount of mass that it's going to transit, and then it will shoot you to the target Relay."

"Let me send a message to HIGHCOM."

And so the Reapers plan to have every race that was space-worthy be Element Zero based and unaware that the Citadel was a trap, failed. They never thought of a race entering a war against a space-faring race before finding the Citadel.

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**FLASH MESSAGE  
**

**CLASSIFICATION: PROMETHEUS NEEDED TO READ**

**FROM: CAPTAIN THOMAS J. LASKY, SERIAL: TL-1014, CO UNSC INFINITY, NA-32**

**TO: REAR ADMIRAL MARTIN A. CHANDLER, SERIAL: MC-0712, CINC EPCOM, HIGHCOM FACILITY BRAVO-6, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA**

_Admiral,_

_We've found the purpose of the unknown object. It's an FTL device capable of shooting a ship across hundred, even thousands, of light-years across the galaxy. It's called a Primary Relay, and it connects to another one three thousand and fifty-five kilometers away from NA-32. This is part of a network of Relays, which centers around a massive fifty-kilometer space station called the Citadel. Dr. Halsey, Roland, and myself agree that it's a trap for something. Who wouldn't make a capital out of the Citadel if they were new to space travel?_

_I'm requesting permission to go to the other side and secure the system to keep our borders secure, and see what's around._

_Captain Thomas J. Lasky, CO UNSC Infinity, NA-32_

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**FLASH MESSAGE**

**CLASSIFICATION: PROMETHEUS NEEDED TO READ**

**FROM: REAR ADMIRAL MARTIN A. CHANDLER, SERIAL: MC-0712, CINC EPCOM, HIGHCOM FACILITY BRAVO-6, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA**

**TO: CAPTAIN THOMAS J. LASKY, SERIAL: TL-1014, CO UNSC INFINITY, NA-32**

_Captain,_

_Good hunting._

_Rear Admiral Martin A. Chandler, CINC EPCOM, HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6, Sydney, Australia_

* * *

Captain Lasky read the message from Chandler, before he said, "Alright. Get Dakota and the Apaches on the line, let them know we're going through. Have the _Pillar of Spring_ and the _Resolution_ go with us and the Apaches. Roland, are you ready to send the mass to the Relay?"

Roland, lines of math going through his avatar as he did complicated calculations to keep busy, said, "Yes, Captain. Ready when you are. And sir, the Spartans are geared up if things go south."

"Good man, Roland. Tell Palmer to maintain readiness, but don't get them to riled up. Ohlau, is everything ready?"

Commander Ohlau, 2IC of _Infinity_, said, "Yes, Captain. The _Pillar_ and _Resolution_ are ready to follow us. Apaches One through Six are in their bays, with Seven through Ten going through the Relay themselves."

"Excellent. Helm, take us to the Relay. Weapons, make sure that we're ready for an engagement. We don't know what's on the other side, and I'm not taking any chances. Roland, send it. And make sure Halsey's monitoring the Relay as we go through."

A reply of "Yes, sirs" was the answer to his orders.

Within a minute, Roland said, "Doctor Halsey is monitoring the Relay as we speak."

"Alright people, let's go through."

And so the massive five kilometer long ship approached the Relay, and when Roland sent the code and energy sparked along the hull of the _Infinity_, the ship launched through the Relay.

* * *

Liara T'soni sat in her cabin, reading the reports from her agents spread out across the galaxy. The Shadow Broker was currently in an unregistered ship heading towards Omega in a roundabout route to avoid the Council patrols as they searched for pirates and other undesirables. Aria, the Queen of Omega, wanted to meet with her to get some information on a rival who was causing unrest with well-placed bribes and promises, and Liara, knowing that Aria had considerable resources that would allow her to find her and hunt her down, decided that it was in her best interests to meet with the fellow Asari.

It was as she was reading a report on a Hierarchy attempt to send yet another vessel through the Omega 4 Relay, which was a complete failure like all of the others, when there was a knock on her door. Growling slightly at the interruption, she opened the door, and saw one of her Maidens standing at the door.

"What?"

The maiden, who's name Liara didn't even remember, said, "The Relay's been activated, Matriarch."

Liara, knowing that the Relay was a Primary Relay and should've remained inactivated, said, "What?"

"The Relay's been activated."

Liara was silent for a moment, before she said, "Tell Aratho to get the ship's stealth systems up. Let's see who's violating Council law."

* * *

Standing in the CIC of the unregistered ship, a former passenger liner that had been converted into a Dreadnought using the considerable resources she had at her disposal, Liara observed the ships that had gone through the Relay. There were thirteen of them, and two of them were bigger than her Dreadnought, one by a bit, and the other by several kilometers. She had almost needed to change her underwear along with everybody else in the CIC when the five-kilometer ship came out, and released six other ships from within it. Several times, their ships had passed them as they searched the system. As one of the smaller ships, a couple of hundred meters like a Frigate, but more boxy than one, passed them again, Liara smirked as she thought of something.

"Feron, are there any Turian patrols in the area?"

* * *

Captain Flavus Vakarian stood in the CIC of the HFV _Warrior_, one of the new Menae-class Dreadnoughts being put into service by the Hierarchy as the Epyrus-class was removed from service, watching as the 22nd Hierarchy Patrol Fleet, a total of twenty-three ships, patrolled the system known as U-57 for any fugitives trying to hide. Pirates and slavers enjoyed hiding out on the fringes of Citadel space, and after the Batarians had secretly constructed eight Dreadnoughts without the Council finding out by hiding them in an edge system, the patrols were stepped up to keep situations like that from happening. Vakarian had been moved from the Krogan DMZ to command the newly-formed Patrol Fleet.

As he watched the Frigate _Undoubtable_ move past his Dreadnought, Lieutenant Markus Vilchy called out, "Captain, we've got a message from General Arterius. He wants us to move to U-71 next."

U-71 was another system along the fringes of Citadel space, and while part of the 25th Patrol Fleet's circuit, it wasn't unusual for Flavus to get an order to search there.

He said, "Tell Landar to take us there once we're done with U-57."

Once the twenty-three ship fleet, consisting of a Dreadnought, three Cruisers, and nineteen Frigates, was done with U-57, they went into FTL for the two hour trip to U-71.

As soon as they left, another ship exited FTL, although this one was different than the previous FTL used. After searching the system, the couple of hundred meter ship maintained a position toward the edge of the system, near the Relay.

"_Infinity_, this isApache Two. System's clear."

* * *

Captain Thomas J. Lasky stood in the bridge, facing the unknown fleet that had entered the system through an unfamiliar FTL-type. Normal officers would've bene surprised and even have freaked out a little. But after Requiem, he doubted anything could surprise him anymore.

So far, the twenty-three unknown ships had just been holding position on the other side of the system, while the _Infinity_ and the three Apaches that hadn't gone with the _Pillar of Spring_ and the _Resolution_ maintained their own position. Roland had been running scans on the ships, while the unknowns undoubtedly did the same to get information for the upper hand.

The ships, the biggest one being a kilometer and a half, had entered through an FTL that literally reduced the mass of an object so it could travel at a velocity of dozens of light-years a day. They were run on Element Zero, the element that no scientists knew anything about, which was unsurprising to him since he had been thinking of the trap, and coming up with the plan of it. With the races who discovered the Relay undoubtedly basing their technology off of it, they would be using Element Zero, giving whoever designed the trap an advantage with knowing how the technology works and how to go around it.

The ships were armed with sometime up of cannon, although Roland, not wanting to cause an incident, hadn't hacked their systems to find out what it was, and they had missile pods, along with batteries of what looked like point-defense weapons all along their hulls. Even though the _Infinity_ had the size advantage, and with its energy projector Lasky thought it likely that he had the weapons advantage, he was worried about facing twenty-three unknown ships with only three Frigates for support.

Looking at his bridge officers, he said, "Set up communications to the Apaches."

Once Lieutenant Charles Warrington did so, Lasky said, "Apaches, I want you ready to fire at a moment's notice if they fire upon us. I'm going to try and communicate."

When they nodded, Lasky cut the channel, and said, "Lieutenant, get a line to their flagship."

Warrington said, "Sir, I don't know which ship their flagship is."

Roland, noticing Lasky's tic, said, "I believe it is their largest ship, Lieutenant. That tends to be a fleet's flagship."

"Right, Roland. Captain, communications established."

Looking at the hidden camera that Roland had aiming at him, Lasky said, "My name is Captain Thomas J. Lasky of the United Nations Space Command. We come in peace.

* * *

A.N.: So definitely different than the first one so far, eh?

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_"The Mgalekgolo, or Hunters, are currently divided between supporting the Loyalists and supporting the UNSC and our allies. Much like the Unggoy and Kig-Yar, the Mgalekgolo are being threatened by the Loyalists and the Remant with fleets holding position above their worlds to keep them compliant. But the ones who aren't under threat of being glassed are putting every effort into stopping the Loyalists and Remant. Over a third of our fleets, which could be used hunting down the remaining Loyalists and Remant who continue to try and break through our lines, are dedicated to protecting the worlds of our divided allies from attack. Who knows where we would be without the Hunters providing support to our infantry?"_

_-Rear Admiral Marcus Jones, S-4 of the 22nd Strike Force_


	3. First Contact-Part Two

On the Brink: Alternate

First Contact Part Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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_"The Shadow Broker is a dealer of information on her good days. But if you cross her, she can have a hit on you in less than a minute. And once that hit's on you, you're a dead man. A couple of months ago there were rumors of a coup within the organization having taken place and that the leadership had changed. The three Spectres that were sent over the course of the past months never came back, and so it's obvious that the Shadow Broker is just as strong as ever, if not more so. If I'm honest with myself, I'm curious to see what this new Shadow Broker, who has been confirmed as a female, is like. Will she be like the former Shadow Broker and try to manipulate things from the shadows, or will she take a more direct approach."_

_-Captain Traetus Manarian, Turian C-Sec Officer_

* * *

Flavus Vakarian stood in the CIC, watching the video of the unknown commander saying something in an unknown language. The Turian studied the unknown's stance and facial expressions. Despite the unknown being...an unknown, it looked extremely similar to an Asari, except it had fur atop its head and wasn't blue nor did it have the Asari's head crests, so similar that Flavus, who had been attached to C-Sec for a couple of years, felt he could safely make an assumption about the unknown's intentions. Already, the ship's VI was working on a translation software for the unknown's language, but it would be a few hours, and Flavus knew he didn't have a few hours.

Turning to Commander Vymnus, he said, "Tell all ships to hold their fire. They're friendly."

Vymnus turned an incredulous look to his Captain, and asked, "How do you know that? They're a new race!"

"Look at how similar it is to the Asari. I assume that some of their facial expressions are the same. If they are, then it is smiling."

Vymnus, looking at the image, saw his Captain's logic, and said, "Very well, Captain. I will pass along your orders."

* * *

Liara, watching the two fleets impatiently from the CIC of her ship, said, "Feron, is there something we can do to spice things up?"

The Drell, standing at the command console of the ship, said, "We've managed to hack into the Turians' communication systems. The unknown fleet's cyber-defenses are too strong for us to hack into."

With a smirk on her face, Liara said, "Do something to make things more interesting, will you?"

"As you command, Liara."

* * *

Flavus regarded the ships in front of his fleet, his thoughts full of worry about what the Hierarchy would do, especially with Sparatus as the Primarch. Sparatus wasn't known for his reason, rather the opposite of reason, and Flavus wouldn't put it above him to order an offensive through the Relay against the unknowns. Judging from the readings that they were getting from the scans being conducted, the ships were part of an unknown race, who obviously didn't know about the Citadel and its Council, otherwise they wouldn't have activated a dormant Primary Relay. And Flavus knew that the five-kilometer ship was against the Treaty of Farixen. Sparatus, the type of person to attack the unknowns in order to have that five-kilometer ship at his disposal, would have to be kept out of the loop for as long as possible. Flavus, with all sorts of things impacting his decision, decided that it would be best to get an Asari diplomat here before anything happened. Unfortunately, that went right out the proverbial window as one of his Frigates, the _Savage_, fired at the unknowns.

Flavus, his eyes wide, watched as the round traveled across space to the unknowns, heading towards one of the three smaller ships. As the round hit, shields sprung up, taking the blow completely, shocking everybody watching, as even a Dreadnought's shields would show some type of strain against the blow. In the moment of silence that followed after, decisions were made.

Every ship in the Turian patrol fleet opened fire, even the _Warrior_, fired upon the unknowns. The rounds from the mass accelerator cannons flew towards their targets, only to splash against the massive ship's shields as it moved in front of the smaller ships. But three rounds hit the Frigate that had been fired upon earlier, the first round overloading what was left of its shields before the following two rounds hit the ship itself. As a hole ripped through the hull, and bodies flew out of the opening, evacuation craft left the ship and were picked up by the other three.

Flavus, angered by the disobeyed orders, yelled out, "What's going on? Why are you shooting?"

Vymnus, listening to the reports from the rest of the fleet, said, "Captain, the _Savage_ said that they received an order to fire. And the rest of the fleet just followed the rest."

Angry at the fact that a falsified order had caused this, Vymnus said, "Tell all ships to hold their fire, until I give them the code that means it's from me, go it? Let's just hope they don't shoot back."

* * *

"Captain, Apache Nine is gone. I repeat, Apache Nine is gone. Lifeboats are out in the open."

"Roland, tell Apaches One and Seven to stay behind us, and pick them up."

As the _Infinity_ moved forward, allowing the two remaining Frigates to pick up the survivors from Apache Nine, the bridge crew officers reported the statuses of the ship. Shields were at ten percent, all weapon systems were online, even the energy projector, forcing only emergency lighting to be on, engines were at a ninety percent power, communications were still online, no hull breaches. Except for the low shields and the destroyed Frigate, everything was fine.

Lasky said, "Lieutenant Chambers, fire MACs One and Three. Show them our teeth."

The _Infinity_ shuddered at the firing of the two MACs, sending the two 600-ton depleted Uranium slugs towards the enemy at 30,000 meters per second. One round struck one of the two Cruisers that made up the 22nd Patrol Group, and completely blew through the kinetic barriers, designed to stop something coming at a much faster speed than the depleted Uranium slug, striking the hull. The round tore through the Cruiser, destroying almost all of its decks before it came out of the other side. Fortunately for the Turians, there were no ships behind the Cruiser. As it moved lifelessly, not one escape pod exited the Cruiser, although bodies flew out into the void.

The second round slammed into a Frigate, its shields even more useless than the Cruiser's, and tore through its hull, before smacking into a second Frigate behind the fist. With the round having slowed down, it merely knocked the Frigate off course and dropped its shields. The Frigate smacked into a third Frigate, the unshielded vessel exploding at the force it collided, taking down the shields of the third Frigate and destroying it. And as a silence came over the battlefield after the two salvos, both sides stared at each other, one in shock, the other daring the Turians to try something.

* * *

Liara sat in her chair, watching the battle in interest. After the destruction of the Cruiser and three Frigates, the Turians had opened fire upon the three ships. The shield of the massive Dreadnought had collapsed, and the rounds splashed against its hull. But the ship took them with no problem, and returned fire, firing multiple salvos at once. The rounds it fired, slower than the standard mass accelerator rounds used by the Citadel races, had a higher payload, and soon all that was left of the Turian patrol were two Frigates and the Dreadnought. Knowing that it was useless to stay in fight, Captain Flavus Vakarian ordered the retreat, and Liara had to admit that she was surprised when the three ships were allowed to escape. Once the Turians left the system, Liara decided that the show was up, although she did want to leave a probe in the system.

She said, "Feron, get us out of here."

And so the Shadow Broker, leaving behind a probe that would record what happened in the system for the next five months, exited the system by conventional FTL.

* * *

Lasky watched as the seven Apaches that had departed to the other system arrived from slipspace, and began to systematically search for any probes or bombs. Three probes were found, one dropped away from the fleet that had engaged them. Each one of them were destroyed, and once they were sure they were safe from being seen, the Frigates dropped Fury Nuclear Warheads throughout the system, before they went through the Relay back to Armstrong Station and UNSC space.

The _Infinity_ was the last one to head back, and with a salute, Lasky watched as Apache Nine exploded from its self-destruct device before the capital ship went through the Relay.

* * *

_"The Loyalists, despite the losses they had on their territory, are still waging war against us, just like we knew they would, although we didn't want to accept it at the time. Doisac was glassed by a joint UNSC-Sangheili fleet after the glassing of Sanghelios, and yet they still fight. We've assassinated countless San 'Shyuum Prophets, but after the Prophet of Revenge was assassinated by an ONI Black Operations team, it became clear that the Prophets were not the ones running the fight. We've got the Infinity going after them, and they're just sending ships to the grave in an attempt to destroy it. No tactical strategies, just pure brute force. Unfortunately for the Loyalists, we're the big dogs now. But it's been quiet on the Western Front. They're planning something."_

_-Vice Admiral Richard Paulen, N-3_


	4. Calm Before The Storm

On the Brink: Alternate

Calm Before The Storm

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Mass Effect belongs to Bioware, and Halo belongs to Microsoft and 343 Industries.

* * *

_"Kill their women and children, kill everyone! These Brutes shall know what's it like to lose their mates and children!"_

_-Rtas 'Vadum on a Brute-controlled world_

* * *

General Desolas Arterius walked through the halls of the HVS _Unbreakable_, a new Menae-class Dreadnought and his first Dreadnought command, towards the CIC, returning the salutes of his subordinates. Arterius, unlike his brother Saren, was known as a rash person, his decisions often made without much debate. But he was a rule follower, and that was the reason why Palaven had chosen him to lead the offensive into Lawbreaker territory after the engagement at U-71 saw Captain Vakarian's fleet decimated by four ships. And of course, reason didn't prevail as the Hierarchy prepared to take revenge, their asses covered by the Council laws. At least until someone looked under the surface.

A race had broken the Citadel Conventions by activating a dormant Primary Mass Relay, and when Captain Vakarian's patrol fleet tried to stop them, the race opened fire on the unsuspecting fleet. Vakarian's fleet returned fire, destroying one ship while the other two hid behind the massive five-kilometer long Dreadnought, a clear defiance of the Treaty of Farixen, while the Dreadnought pounded Vakarian into submission before the 22nd went into FTL and got out of the fight. The 5th Fleet arrived in system to find nothing there except for the hulks of destroyed vessels.

No mention would be made of the falsified orders that caused the whole incident, same with the fact that the Turians were the first ones to fire. That would be kept in-house, and Blackwatch and Turian Spectres would handle searching for the cause of the orders since it was apparent that the newcomers hadn't been the cause.

But the newcomers were to become a client race, for a variety of reasons. Their ships didn't use eezo, something that every race thought impossible, proven by the Salarian's disastrous attempt at making a Frigate not using eezo as a power source. Three hundred Salarians lost in the blink of an eye when the ship exploded when trying to enter FTL.

The five-kilometer ship was another. Every race tried to keep their fleets as mobile as possible, even the Dreadnought's were fast and sleek. But the Hierarchy was already rethinking their strategies after the Dreadnought slaughtered the 22nd.

And resources was the third. If they didn't use eezo, then there muse be a lot of Element Zero in their space, enough to supply them for years until they were able to make ships and weaponry without the use of eezo.

The plan to subjugate the Lawbreaker's was simple. Move through the Relay and take the system on the other side. From there, they would go through the Relays, taking systems as they grind down the race. It was foolproof.

* * *

Lasky watched as Pelicans flew between Armstrong Station and the evacuation ship that was moving the scientists and their equipment to London II, Reach's Outer Colony counterpart. After the Great War and the UNSC began to retake their lost space, London II was found to be a military hub for a small battle group led by Rear Admiral Edward Callahan, that had been commencing hit and run attacks on Covenant fleets as they moved throughout conquered space. London II became the Outer Colony version of Reach, resupplying and building fleets as they engaged the Loyalists and Remnant. The _Infinity_ and her escorts had rearmed and refitted at London II before heading to NA-32.

Once everyone on the station was evacuated, Lieutenant Commander Grant Mullican announced, "Evacuation's complete, Infinity. Requesting clearance to go to London II."

Lasky said, "Granted. Get out of here, Commander."

The evacuation vessel entered slipspace, heading to London II. Lasky let out the breath he had been holding, fearing that the aliens on the other side of the Relay would come through before the evacuation was complete.

Turning to Roland's pedestal, where the smart AI was doing complex math calculations to take up some of his spare processes, Lasky asked, "Roland, do Hood and Parangosky have any information you got during the engagement?"

"They do, sir."

Turning his attention to the three Prowlers that Parangosky had dispatched to assist him in defending against a potential counter-attack, which were setting HORNET nuclear mines around the Relay, Lasky said, "Good. What do you think the other side's going to do?"

Roland didn't say anything for a moment, before he said, "Well sir, the other side is known as the Turian Hierarchy, but they are a member of something called the Citadel Council, where they make up the majority of the Citadel's military forces. After going through their information, I believe they will try and make us one of their client races, since they use the newly-discovered Element Zero for everything in their arsenal, while we don't, and they want the advantage of not having to rely on Element Zero. To do this Captain, they will send a large fleet through the Relay and secure this system, and from there they will system-hop across our space, like the island-hopping strategy of World War II. They've used this tactic many a time, and it's worked for them every time. But we don't have Relays, so they will have to rely on their conventional FTL to get around, giving us an advantage."

Lasky was silent as he thought about what Roland had said, formulating ideas. Despite wanting to know more, Tom knew there wasn't enough time to get it.

"Alright. Roland, I want the _Sierra's Hope_ and the _Spirit of Earth_ positioned on the opposite side of the garden world, which should provide them with excellent lanes of fire against anything that comes through the Relay. The rest of the fleet's going to be in Phase Lines, with the _Montego Bay_ and _Harper's Ferry_ in the back, providing bases for fighters, bombers, and interceptors. Put Onagers on Armstrong Station, five at the most. Harrison is still on Armstrong, with orders to purge at the slightest threat to Armstrong so no data is available to the enemy. Ground forces are to be on stand-by if the enemy tries to get boots on the ground."_  
_

"Aye, Captain."

As the Onagers were moved to Onager Station by Albatrosses remotely controlled by Harrison, Marines boarded Pelicans, ODSTs got in their SOEIVs, Airborne were in their own Albatrosses, and the S-IVs waited on S-Deck for when they were needed, Lasky watched as the fleet moved into phase lines for whatever happened next.

Watching the Relay, surrounded by HORNET mines, Lasky barely heard Roland mutter, "Come at me, bro."

* * *

Commander David Anderson sat in the command chair as his Frigate, the _Siren's Song_, joined its fellow UNSC ships at Phase Line Alpha, the only line positioned in front of the _Infinity_. The Halcyon-class Light Cruiser, _Phoenix Fire_, took up its position at the center of the line, its modified MAC providing a lot of firepower. Besides the Heavy Cruiser and Anderson's Frigate, there were ten ships making up Phase Line Alpha. With MACs trained on the mine-surrounded Relay, their job was to keep any hostile forces at the Relay for as long as possible, assisted by the other Phase Lines.

Anderson asked, "How are our weapons, Manson?"

Ensign Andrew Manson looked over his console and said, "MAC's at a hundred percent, sir. Howlers and Archers are ready. Point-defense systems are reading green as well, Commander."

"Good."

The Frigate, one of the few remaining Paris-class Heavy Frigates from the Great War, hadn't been refitted with energy shielding like the newer Jericho-class, so he didn't have to worry about shielding. As he asked the other bridge officers about the status of the ship, he wasn't surprised to know that the company of ODSTs were already in their SOEIVs anticipating a ground engagement. Having been the navigation officer on the Charon-class Light Frigate _Who Are You_, Anderson knew that ODSTs were always ready for anything.

Once he was satisfied that his Frigate was running smoothly, Anderson sat back in his chair, and waited.

* * *

Thomas Lasky watched the Relay as the wait made its way into the second hour. Battle Group Dakota had been on stand-by, waiting for the enemy fleet to arrive. Reinforcements in the form of three Keyes-class Destroyers, seven Jericho-class Heavy Frigates, and one Marathon-class Cruiser had arrived to strengthen Battle Group Dakota. But no attack had come through the Relay, and as the _Infinity_ waited at Phase Line Bravo, Lasky couldn't help but think an attack would never come.

Of course as soon as he thought that, Roland announced, "Sir, strange readings are coming from the Relay."

As the bridge crew made sure the _Infinity_ was running smoothly, Lasky asked, "Does Fleet Admiral Mawikizi know?"

As if answering his question, the video screens within the bridge activated, and Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi, who had taken command of the Battle Group when the reinforcements showed up, appeared.

The Fleet Admiral, considered a hero for his actions during The Great War, began to speak, "All UNSC personnel, this is Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi. Today, we are making history as whoever's on the other side of the object we're all facing comes forward. I want weapons ready, but it is Fire Code Yellow. Do not fire, unless fired upon. Good luck."

As the Admiral disappeared from the screen, Lasky, despite the serious situation, couldn't help but chuckle at his former CO's speech.

But that chuckle disappeared when Roland said, "Sir, ships matching the same design and shape as those encountered on the other side of the Relay are appearing near the Relay."

The game was on.

* * *

A.N.: So I'll be in Gulf Shores this 4th of July weekend, and my mom's making me leave my laptop at my apartment so I can't just hole up in my room and write all day. Sad, right? But anyway, since I'll be enjoying the sun and the ocean, I've decided to post this chapter today instead of the usual Friday. Hope you guys have an excellent Independence Day!

* * *

_"Drop a fucking MAC!"_

_-Rear Admiral Brett Hanson, UNSC Say My Name_

_"But there are civilians sir."_

_-Lieutenant Junior Grade Mandy Bright_

_"You think there are civies in there, Lieutenant? They're all at fault for New Beirut!"_

_-Hanson_

_"Yes, sir."_

_-Bright_


	5. NA32 Part One

On the Brink: Alternate

NA-32 Part One

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, not even my apartment...

* * *

_"Councillor Tevos. The Asari representative, she's probably the calmest Councillor currently on the Council. An experienced Commando, Tevos is calm during stressful situations, frequently keeping Councillor Sparatus from invading a section of space that sets him off, most frequently the Terminus Systems and Batarian space. At only six centuries old, we can expect the young Matriarch to guide Citadel space through many more centuries."_

_-Asari newscaster, Lydanya Massovoy_

* * *

Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi looked at the ships holding position at the object known as a Primary Relay, a tight feeling in his stomach. The veteran flag officer had never been in a situation where there was a possibility of peace. Throughout the Great War, and the following war against the Remnant and the Brutes, it had always been an instant fight. This new situation was something he had trouble figuring out.

As the staredown continued between the sixty-four ships that made up the reinforced Battle Group Dakota and the hundred ships that came through the Relay, Mawikizi turned to the AI pedestal next to his chair, and asked, "Paul, do we have a connection?"

The AI known as Paul flared to life, showing that the AI had chosen to look like the American Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere, and said, "Yes, Admiral. The _Infinity_'s AI showed me a backdoor into their systems. I have not tried to enter their systems yet in case they know I get in. No need to start hostilities this early.

Jean remained silent as he thought on how to act, then said, "I want to send another message. Same as Lasky's."

"Aye, sir."

As Jean said the words at the AI, and the message was sent, he hoped that the language barrier wasn't large enough so that it was misunderstood as a hostile message. The data package Hood had sent him mentioned that the Asari, one of the Relay Races as they were being called, looked a lot like them.

Now to a normal Turian flag officer, the message would be seen as what it was, and talks would begin, the entire purpose to get enough dialogue to make translators, when the real talks would begin.

Unfortunately for everyone, the enemy commander was not a normal Turian.

Arterius watched the video communications roll on the screen in front of him for the fifth time, trying to figure out what the message meant. As he listened to the foreign tongue and watched the alien's face, which had an expression very similar to an Asari's, he thought there was a likely chance that it was a message of peace. However, there was a chance that the alien was preaching the burning of Palaven. And as that thought took hold, and grew, the Turian General made his decision.

"All ships, this is General Arterius. Attack."

* * *

As one, the Turian fleet opened fire on the UNSC fleet. Mass accelerator rounds flew across the blackness of space, right on target. But the Turians, used to fighting against the same tactics used for centuries, never expected what the UNSC did.

A repair and refit station, the _Cradle_, maneuvered in front of the first line of UNSC ships. The mass accelerator rounds slammed into the mobile drydock, and with no shields, the rounds caused the station to explode. But not one hit the other UNSC vessels.

Barely seconds after the destruction of the _Cradle_, which followed the path of its namesake that had been destroyed at Sigmus Octanus IV, Mawikizi shouted, "All ships fire!"

The first salvo from the UNSC hit at a perfect moment. Having started moving away from the Relay after their salvo, intending to close the distance, the Turians hit the HORNET mines surrounding the Relay. As the nuclear mines detonated, vaporizing five ships in a bright flash, the MAC rounds slammed into the weakened fleet. Although several rounds, most hit their targets, and it left a mark. Seven ships were outright destroyed, while five were listing aimlessly, all systems down and venting atmosphere. The extreme range of the shots caused the damage dealt by the MACs to be lessened, although there were hull breaches and downed kinetic barriers across the fleet.

"All ships, break ranks."

Having changed the plan of action, the UNSC ships broke rank as the two sides closed in on each other, missiles and disruptor torpedoes launching. 50mm autocannons that served as the point-defense weaponry for the USNC ships raked across the disruptor torpedoes, taking out most of them, but not all of them. Designed to take out kinetic barriers with random and unstable mass effect shields, the torpedoes showed their usefulness against energy shielding, taking out many of the shields or draining them heavily. But the UNSC's Archer and Howler missiles showed their effectiveness against the Turian ships as well. Despite the GUARDIAN defense systems taking out hundreds of the missiles, hundreds more hit unprotected ships or weakened kinetic barriers. The heavy payloads breached hulls, even causing three Frigates to list aimlessly, or took down kinetic barriers. As explosions detonated against shields, barriers, and hulls, each side let loose another salvo of MAC rounds and mass accelerators, then released their aircraft.

Turian fighters flew through space towards the UNSC ships, their intent on getting one or two strafing runs done before the aircraft coming from the _Montego Bay_ and _Harper's Ferry_, the two carriers that were holding position at the back of their system, arrived. Unfortunately for the Turians, Longsword interceptors deployed from the _Spirit of Earth_, unnoticed holding position on the other side of the garden world, did their jobs and engaged the hostile fighters.

With experienced leaders, the pilots of the UNSC utilized tactics that the Turians were unprepared for, such as flying close to ships so that the 50mm autocannons providing point-defense could rip the Turian fighters apart. And with the arrival of Shortsword bombers that dropped payloads on the Turian ships, and Broadsword fighters that covered them, the tide turned in the UNSC's favor.

As MAC rounds slammed into hulls, missiles broke kinetic barriers, and UNSC aircraft decimated their Turian counterparts while flying devastating sorties against the Turian fleet, General Desolas Arterius made a decision.

"We need reinforcements."

* * *

Just as the UNSC began to deliver the killing blow to the hundred Turian ships, reinforcements came through the Relay, mass accelerators blazing as shuttles and fighters were released, the shuttles heading towards the surface of the garden world while the fighters engaged their UNSC counterparts. As the reinforcements passed what was left of the original Turian fleet, down to twelve of the hundred original ships, both sides knew it would be a long fight.

* * *

A.N.: I'm slightly shocked that only a few of you guys complained about having Liara be "evil". In the reviews of the last story, a lot of you guys hated me for making Liara not a nice person.

Anyway, another chapter done. Hope you guys enjoyed.

For those of you who care: Gulf Shores was awful, for my sister and mom anyway. It rained everyday, and the Gulf Shores 4th of July firework show absolutely failed. But I went to Battleship Park in Mobile, Alabama, and I have to say, it was pretty awesome. I even went on the flight simulator they had in their hangar, although it was like a kid ride. It was pretty ridiculous, but hey, I wouldn't have known that if I didn't try it.

* * *

_"Let's go. We won't make any money just sitting here."_

_-Balak_


	6. NA32 Part Two

On the Brink: Alternate

NA-32 Part Two

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

* * *

_"Kilo-5. A bunch of thugs in my opinion, especially Serin. But I can't deny the results they get. Completely loyal to Parangosky, Kilo-5 handles some of the most dangerous missions, the ones that Parangosky doesn't want to get outside of those she trusts. You better keep an eye on them, DeWitt. Or they'll end up causing a whole shitload of trouble."_

_-Colonel James Winston, Section Zero, to Major Paul DeWitt, Section Three Operation Coordinator_

* * *

Commander Vymnus held tightly onto his Phaeston assault rifle as the shuttle descended to the surface of the garden world. Forward elements had already secured a butte, with high walls that had turned the plot of land into a natural fortress, thanks to the world's weather. Looking out of the window of the shuttle as it descended, he could see the Blackwatch operators and AOS soldiers descending in their Orbital Entry Vehicles, the pods heading towards a mountain range from which they would engage the Lawbreakers in a guerrila-type battle until reinforcements arrived.

A burning shuttle flew past the window, shocking him. The shuttle, no longer with working engines that sped up its descent, slammed into a working shuttle, both of them spiraling out of control from the impact. Looking, he could see several more wrecked shuttles, and he wondered what had caused their demise. His answer came when one of the Lawbreakers' fighters came streaking past, rounds aimed at something he couldn't see. Slightly shocked that the Lawbreakers managed to have fighters capable of atmospheric operations, Vymnus hoped that their own fighters would hold them off, until all shuttles were grounded and GUARDIAN laser trucks were set up.

Vymnus turned his attention to the squad of soldiers that were accompanying him on the trip groundside. Every last one of the twelve Turians were veteran warriors, having been on the frontlines during the latest series of border clashes between the Hierarchy and the Hegemony. The squad and the two shuttle pilots had followed him when he was transferred to Arterius's fleet. They would follow every order, no matter how insane.

As the two pilots brought the shuttle in for a landing at the butte, Vymnus stood up, gripping his Phaeston with one taloned hand, and took the front with the squad forming up behind him.

When the two sides opened, the Turians dropped out, and Vymnus said, "Sergeant, i want the suttle on stand-by for any mission."

The pilot touched shuttle to ground, and said, "Yes, sir."

A Lieutenant was waiting for him, wearing the patch of a fellow biotic, and as Vymnus walked to the makeshift command center, the biotic said, "Sir, we have six GUARDIAN trucks positioned around the camp, with two more inside. We're currently moving four more to position. Three Mantis gunships are operational, but the remaining three were destroyed while in shuttles. Armor's at fifty percent capability, with the rest still coming in. Only two of our artillery pieces made it down, but they're both set. Only three squads didn't make it down so far, sir."

"Excellent, Lieutenant. What of the Blackwatch and AOS operators?"

The Lieutenant had a slightly saddened look at the loss of so many Turians, "Only a third of them landed in the mountains. Some of them landed elsewhere, but most of the force was wiped out, either from landing too hard or getting taken out by enemy ships."

Orbital drops, something that hadn't been used until the last clashes against the Batarians, were still being worked out. And each memeber of AOS knew what they were getting into.

As the Commander reached the command post, he stopped as he heard shouting. Looking, he saw his fellow Turians looking in the sky as the GUARDIAN trucks let loose. When he looked up, and saw the descending pods that had obviously come from the Lawbreaker ship that was outlined against the sun, he felt a sense of dread as a line streaked in from the ship and hit one of the GUARDIAN trucks.

The ground battle was on.

* * *

After releasing the detachment of ODSTs and shoving an Archer missile down the throat of one of the mobile AA guns, Andersen and his Frigate left the atmosphere of the garden world to get back in the space battle.

When the Turian reinforcements had shown up, the extra two hundred ships, a mixture of Frigates, Cruisers, and Dreadnoughts, had turned the tide, albeit at a heavy cost. UNSC Frigates and Destroyers got up close and personal against the reinforcements, letting loose with MACs, missiles, and point-defense weapons at point-blank range, while the Cruisers engaged from range. The carriers holding position at the back of the system provided a base for the single-seat craft that was keeping the Turian fighters off of the hulls of their vessels. And the _Spirit of Earth_ revealed itself from the other side of the garden world, its deadly MAC and fighter combo making work of any Turian ships that tried to support the ground forces, while letting off Marines, Army, and ODSTs to counter the Turian ground pounders.

The _Infinity_ was plowing through the Turian lines, its frame breaking Dreadnoughts in half with no noticeable damage done to its hull. Onagers, missiles, and the _Infinity_'s MACs made short work of the ships that it didn't plow through, while the extensive point-defense weaponry dealt death to the single-seaters that tried to destroy it. Lasky was holding the energy projector in reserve, knowing that it was best the enemy didn't know that the _Infinity_ had it until the killing blow, when that information wouldn't be getting out.

As the massive ship cleaved through a Turian Dreadnought before blasting a Frigate apart with a couple of Howler missile pods, Andersen decided to assist.

"Wepps, I want a firing solution for the MAC, and Archer pods A-C. Target one of the ships that _Infinity_ missed."

"Aye, sir."

Andersen watched as his weapons officer came up with the firing solutions, and when they were ready, targeting one of the medium-sized vessels that had been missed by the _Infinity_, he said, "Fire."

The missiles let loose first, travelling through space slower than the MAC that caused the _Siren's Song_ to shudder. He watched, nonplussed, as the ship's point-defense system took out half of the Archers, the rest impacting the ship's kinetic barriers, causing it to shimmer slightly. And then the MAC hit.

With extreme force, the MAC hit the weakened barrier, causing it to collapse, before the round hit the ship's hull. The hull bent under the pressure exerted on it, but managed to hold. Unfortunately for the Turian ship, one of the Onagers on Armstrong made an appearance as Harrison assisted the _Siren's Song_.

Now in the game, the Onagers on Armstrong began tearing the nearby Turian ships apart, attracting the attention of the Turian fleet.

* * *

As the _Sierra's Hope_, shadowing the _Infinity_, exploded under multiple mass accelerator rounds, Commander Tonn Actus cursed as the shuttle shuddered as it approached the space station that was dealing death and destruction. Of course he had no clues what the ships' names were, but he cursed the one that caused his ride to become even more jumpy. With his atmospheric suit on and Phaeston in his grip, the Turian was ready for action.

When the shuttle touched down, the Turian was the first one out as they began the attack on Armstrong Station. Numbering sixty in total, Actus felt that the assault force was more than enough to take down the station. Unfortunately for them, they had never faced an opponent like Harrison before.

As the shuttles lifted off to provide air support and to get away from any ground fire, AIM-321 automated SAMs sprung up and let loose their payloads. Each of the twenty-five missiles hit their targets, and the nine shuttles were no more.

Actus looked at where the shuttles had been before he shook it off. Whoever these people were, they had some extremely powerful weaponry.

Looking at the two entrances to the station, he said, "Lieutenant Marxis, take Second Element and go through that entrance. I'll take First Element and go through this one."

The tech-savvy Turian nodded, and led Second Element to the other entrance, while Actus led his Element to the closest one. With hardly any effort, the biotic blasted the door open and the Turians rushed in, Phaestons scanning for targets. Nothing.

Having a bad feeling, Actus contacted Marxis, "Lieutenant, are you inside?"

"Yes, Commander. No hostiles."

Taking another look around as he felt like he was being watched, Actus said, "Alright, Lieutenant. Keep moving, Actus out."

Looking at his Element, Actus motioned for them to move further into the station, ignoring his instincts that were screaming at him to get out of there. Taking up his position as the second man in the formation, he motioned for them to move out. As the Turians moved out of the room, something chuckled elsewhere in the station.

* * *

Harrison let a smile cross his avatar's face as an Onager round struck one of the approaching shuttles, and diverting the rest of the enemy reinforcements. No longer using the Onagers to take out enemy ships, the AI was completely focused on defense. Merely wanting to take up his processes, he had trapped the first assaulters in the station, allowing him to take them out at anytime while making the alines unable to fire on Armstrong Station without risking the deaths of their own people.

Checking on the process of the sixty aliens in Armstrong Station, he saw that one of the groups had reached his first line of defense. With a smirk on his avatar, Harrison let it loose.

* * *

Lieutenant Marxis entered the room, his helmet lights illuminating the area of the room he was covering. The room became illuminated as the rest of his Element came in, revealing itself as a hallway. With weapons and lights pointed at the other end of the hallway, which was pitch black, the Element made their way down it.

The chattering of gunfire coming from behind him shocked Marxis, and as he turned, the Turians behind him opened fire on the cause. As he lifted his Phaeston, he saw that six of his men were down, and many more had their kinetic barriers flicker as bullets flew. Seeing the source of hostile fire, Marxis let loose a full heat sink worth of ammo at the drone, but it kept coming, the rounds bouncing off of a barrier. As men screamed from getting hit, Marxis saw a Cain hit the drone, knocking it out of commission.

"Sound off!"

At Marxis's order, twenty-one Turians replied.

As the Element began moving again, Marxis spoke into his radio, "Commander, Marxis. We've been engaged by an enemy mech. Nine of my men are down."

* * *

Actus said, "Understood, Lieutenant. Keep moving."

"Yes, sir."

The Turian Commander disconnected as the point-man stopped by a door. Looking in through a window, he saw that it was lit, and there was a display of sorts.

"Must be important if its still lit. Let's go."

The door was forced open by the point-man, Sergeant Varien, but as soon as Actus entered, the room was closed off with a hiss. Turning, the Turian was horrified as the rest of his men were caught in the hallway. A minute later, as some of them started coughing, Actus realized what was happening. Banging his taloned first on the window, Tonn watched as his men were killed by the airborne poison. His point-man was spared the sight, but hearing the screams was just as bad, and the Turian felt like curling up in a ball. But they had a job to do.

Turning from the window, Actus said, "Let's move. Whoever's controlling this station can't be too far away."

As the two rushed through another door into a dark room, Varien asked, "Is it possible we may be dealing with a VI?"

Actus, after watching his men die, had come to the same conclusion, but didn't voice it. The two actions that had been taken against his men had been automated, the drone and the gas. They were definitely dealing with a VI.

* * *

Harrison watched as several shuttles were downed by the Onagers and AIM-321s, but several of the ones he missed dropped off more troops. Checking the life signs on the Station, he saw that there were over a hundred Turians, and his decision was made.

"Boom."

* * *

The HAVOK tactical nuke detonated, and Armstrong Station was torn to shreds. Shuttles were destroyed by debris or caught in the explosion. Not one Turian survived the explosion.

* * *

A.N.: So another chapter done. I hope you guys like it, even though it skips around quite a bit.

* * *

_"Naomi-010, the Spartan-II assigned to Kilo-5. Like her fellows in the unit, she's completely loyal to Vice Admiral Parangosky. Her fellow S-IIs give her the cold shoulder after OPERATION: NEWT when she shot Doctor Walsh instead of capturing him like they were ordered to. If Parangosky does something, you can expect Naomi to be with her. And a Spartan-II working for Parangosky does not ring well."_

_-Colonel Daniel Walcroft, ONI Section Three_


	7. NA-32 Part Three

On the Brink: Alternate

NA-32 Part Three

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_"The MA5 series is one of the finest series of weapons ever invented, comparable to the Kalashnikov and AR15 series of rifles. Having been in service for over fifty years, it'll be a sad day in the history of the UNSC when we replace the series. With the testing starting on the MA7 series, which takes the basis of the MA5 series but by adding magnetic coils to the MA5 series rifles, it's officially a gauss rifle. Same shape, same weight, bigger bang."_

_-Brigadier General Jamal Wallace, UNSC Marines R&D Executive Officer_

* * *

"Armstrong Station's down, sir."

Lasky had noticed the fireball that was Armstrong Station, everybody had. After Harrison had entered the fray, things had gotten better for the UNSC fleet. With several enemy ships taken out of the picture by the Harrison-controlled Onagers and tying several more up, it had given time for what remained of the UNSC fleet to fall back, and put distance between them and the Turians.

Having been overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemy ships, only twenty of the UNSC ships were mobile. Three were still operational, and they emptied everything they had into the Turians before they were destroyed. Five of the surviving vessels were Frigates, with one of them being Apache Seven. Eight Destroyers and two Halcyon-class Light Cruisers were left, while the _Spirit of Earth_ provided a deadly combo of two MACs and a sizable fighter force. Mawikizi's flagship, the Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser _Leviathan_, and both carriers were still combat capable, refueling and rearming the single-seaters.

Lasky didn't like letting the Turians have orbital dominance over the garden world and putting the ground pounders on the ground under threat, but falling back and forcing to focus on them as well was better than leaving the system.

"Sir, incoming VTC from Fleet Admiral Mawikizi."

"Let it through."

As the Fleet Admiral's face appeared on screen, he said, "Captain, I've contacted Lord Admiral Hood, and he's sending Battle Group Charlemagne to reinforce us. They're moving from Harvest, ETA is forty mikes."

"Roger that, sir. Are we to hold position here?"

Mawikizi was silent for a moment, as he checked something on his TACPAD, and said, "No, Captain. We're not going to sit here and let them take us out. What we are going to do is go on the offensive. Paul here has discovered which ship is their flagship based off of the communications that their fleet is using. While Paul hacks into their systems and causes chaos, you Captain, along with Apache Seven, will enter Slipspace, exiting it among the enemy formation. Are your Spartans ready, Captain?"

Lasky looked at Commander Palmer, the CO of the Spartan-IV detachment on the UNSC _Infinity_, and at her nod, said, "Yes, sir. We'll make preparations now."

"Good. I want you guys in Slipspace in ten. Mawikizi out."

As the Fleet Admiral left the screen, Lasky turned to Palmer and said, "So how are you going to do this?"

Looking at the holotable where Roland had brought up the enemy formation, Palmer said, "To get in the flagship, we're going to need to punch a hole through their shielding and their hull, while keeping the ship operational. Nothing the _Infinity_ has besides missiles and 50mm auto-cannons are capable of that without destroying the flagship outright. So what we do, is have Roland hack into their systems, and shut off their point-defense system. Taking a Pelican loaded with explosives, we detonate that along the hull, with Roland guiding us in to the best location. Using jetpacks, Crimson, Majestic, and myself will enter through the breach in their hull, and fight our way to the bridge, where we will either kill the Admiral leading their fleet, or keep him alive and exfil out to the _Infinity_. If you can keep the rest of their fleet busy, then it should be an easy in-out operation."

Thinking on it, Lasky said, "Approved. Get Crimson and Majestic prepped. We're entering Slipspace in ten mikes."

"Aye, Captain. We'll be ready."

With that, Palmer walked out of the bridge, intending to gather Fireteams Crimson and Majestic for the boarding mission.

* * *

Entering S-Deck, Palmer returned the salutes of the S-IVs that saw her as she walked to Crimson and Majestic's waiting area. When she walked in, she wasn't surprised at all to see the nine Spartans playing a video game.

Having wondered about the footsteps entering the room, Crimson-Two saw Palmer and immediately stood ramrod straight with a salute, shouting, "Officer on deck!"

The other S-IVs jumped up, saluting Palmer as they stood straight.

"At ease, Spartans. We have a mission. Get your gear, close quarters. Be at the Hangar in eight minutes."

"Aye, Commander."

The nine S-IVs ran out of the room to get their weapons, already in their armor. Already armed with her M6Ds and her M7S, Palmer went ahead to the Hangar, where a Pelican was being loaded with explosives ranging from fragmentation grenades to C-12 explosives.

A crew member walked up, his uniform identifying him as Petty Officer First Class Hernandez, and said, "Commander, Captain Lasky thinks that two Pelicans will be needed instead of one for the assault. The first Pelican will breach the hull, and the second one, depending on the size of the breach, will either make the hole bigger, or will land in the ship, and detonate to cause casualties."

Palmer, slightly mad that the plan had been changed, couldn't deny the fact that it was a sound change, and said, "Alright, Hernandez. Anything else?"

"Your jetpacks are over there, Commander."

The Petty Officer pointed to a table in the Hangar, and as Palmer walked over there, she could see Crimson and Majestic, packing weapons designed for close-quarter engagements, walking over to her. As she put her jetpack on, and tested it, the other S-IVs copied her, and once they were sure the packs were working, they landed.

"Alright. Fleet Admiral Mawikizi's AI, Paul, is going to be guiding us through the flagship. Trust him, alright?"

Her Spartans nodded, and she said, "Good. Now, I don't know if it's a kill or capture mission, for right now, we're going to go with a kill mission until told otherwise. We've got three minutes before we enter Slipspace, so take time to eat, talk, pray, whatever the hell you guys do."

With that, Palmer put on her helmet, and leaned up against a wall.

* * *

"All hands, we will be entering Slipspace in three...two...one. We are in Slipspace."

* * *

"What the hell was that?"

Arterius's shout shocked the CIC, but after witnessing a portal open in front of the massive Dreadnought that they were pitted against, it was unsurprising.

One of the sensor officers said, "Sir, it appears to be a form of FTL. But the readings I'm getting from that portal was off the scale."

"So it's retreating?"

"It appears that way, sir."

As a smile crossed his face, the General said, "Good."

* * *

The _Infinity_ slammed straight through a Cruiser as it exited Slipspace, tearing the smaller vessel in half as it surprised the Turian fleet who thought it had retreated. Two MAC rounds fired, destroying the flagship's two escorting Frigates before a third MAC slammed into a Dreadnought that was moving to cover the Dreadnought. Bombers dropped their ordinance on a wolfpack of Frigates that was attempting to surround the _Infinity_, destroying half of the wolfpack and allowing a salvo of Rapier and Archer missiles to destroy the rest. With the sudden assault keeping the air corridor between the _Infinity_ and the enemy flagship clear, two Pelicans were deployed, escorted by Longsword interceptors. Behind the two Pelicans, ten Spartans left the Hangar via jetpacks.

From the UNSC _Leviathan_, Paul hacked into the flagship and disabled their point-defense systems, before making some slight changes that no one would notice, before he left their systems. As the two Pelicans approached, the Longswords broke off to engage enemy fighters, while Broadswords dropped payloads on the flagship, dropping their kinetic barriers and opening up a path for the Pelicans. The first Pelican exploded when it touched the hull, opening a hole that was big enough for a Pelican to fit through.

The second Pelican set down inside the flagship, just barely inside the hull. With Roland watching the action from the external cameras on the Pelican, he waited until the dropship was surrounded before detonating the dropship. The surrounding Turians perished as the fireball rolled through the escaping oxygen.

"Commander Palmer, area is clear. Sending location of CIC to you now. Good hunting."

* * *

"Got it, Roland."

Palmer looked at the hull of the flagship as she neared it, her M7S already locked and loaded. As she saw the hole, she maneuvered her vector accordingly, the rest of the Spartans behind her following.

When her boots touched flat surface, and instantly magnetizing to the ground to keep her stable, Palmer switched to VISR and scanned for any hidden threats as Crimson and Majestic landed behind her. The S-IVs didn't see any hostiles, and as their HUDs updated with the location of the flagship's CIC, they started moving quickly through the ship, jumping down a level as the CIC was below them.

"Crimson, you're with me. Majestic, go through the left, we'll go right. Roland, can you update the HUDs to show the alternate route?"

In the _Infinity_ and communicating with Paul, Roland said, "Can do, Commander. Updated."

As their HUDs updated showing the routes they would be taking, DeMarco said, "Commander, Majestic's breaking off, heading down alternate route. We'll meet up with you at the CIC."

"Got it, Majestic. Crimson, let's go."

With that, Palmer ran through the halls with Crimson on her heels, surprisingly not encountering any hostiles. But as their motion trackers lit up with red dots ahead of them, the experienced Spartans knew that it wouldn't last.

Palmer whispered, "Crimson, Ell it. They're coming to us."

Green acknowledgement lights flashed across her HUD, and Crimson One and Crimson Three formed up at the base, while Palmer, Two, and Four took the longer side of the L-shaped ambush formation. Using the wrecked walls and pipes as cover, the S-IVs were hidden from the Turian rescuers, and as the eight Turians arrived in the ambush area, Palmer squeezed the trigger.

The suppressed burst hit kinetic barriers, alerting the entire squad to the presence of hostiles, but the second burst from the light SMG took out the Turian. As Crimson and Palmer lit the Turians up, the deadly rounds tearing through kinetic barriers and flesh, the Turians tried to return fire, but with no beads on the Spartans, their fire was useless, although Crimson Two's shields flickered when a stray round hit her.

As the last Turian fell, Palmer whispered, "Clear. Let's move."

The five Spartans left their cover, and began moving again, as Palmer said, "Majestic, status update."

"We're still on time, Commander. We've engaged an enemy rescue party, no casualties. They didn't even know we were there. If this keeps up, ETA to CIC is five mikes."

"Roger that. Crimson, let's hurry it up."

Sprinting, Palmer smashed through a wall, surprising a Turian sniper that was hiding under Tactical Cloak. As the skull of the alien crushed under her right boot, Palmer turned around to see what she had killed, before her back smashed through yet another wall and she flipped over a briefing table. Getting back up, she ignored the laughter from Fireteam Crimson as they passed her, and started sprinting again. With the fire above them taking up most of the Turians, the S-IVs didn't encounter any more hostiles on their way to the CIC.

When Majestic arrived, barely thirty seconds after Crimson, at the wall that led to the CIC, Palmer said, "We breach through the wall, tossing flashbangs before we move in. I want non-lethal shots, unless if they're already shooting at you. We don't know who their commander looks like, so we're taking them all with us. Got it?"

* * *

Arterius listened as his CIC officers chatted between them, relaying information from what was happening out in space or the efforts to fix the hull breach on the Dreadnought. The fires had been put out, and drones were already working on patching the hull, but enemy fixed-wing craft made it slow going by continuously targeting the drones. But no boarders had been detected, and the incident was thought as an a boarding plan that didn't fall through. As he watched a mass accelerator slam into the giant Dreadnought, Arterius knew all would be good.

The detonation of explosives from outside shocked the hell out of him, and as he turned, his right hand reaching for the holstered M-6 Carnifex he always kept holstered. But instead of seeing hostiles, he saw three little round objects bouncing into the CIC, before everything went white when the objects detonated with a bang.

* * *

Palmer walked in casually, scanning the room for any threats. Her HUD identified all potential hostiles, but she saw that the flashbangs had done their jobs since they were all curled up and moaning. The Spartans, kicking weapons away from the Turians, flexicuffed them, and shoved them up against the wall while they were patted down of weapons and other items. Taking a datapad-like object from each of the Turians, Palmer had Grant and Crimson Four hang onto them for the eggheads, while the others held onto the weapons and documents. Once they were all patted-down, and the three Turians that had tried to rush in after the Turians were cuffed were killed, the Spartans walked out of the room, with Crimson and Palmer leading the way while Majestic watched the prisoners and their six.

"Tom, it's Sarah. We've got a bunch of people from the CIC. Don't know who's the head honcho, but there's nine of them. We got a lot of their weapons, documents, and a datapad or something for the eggheads to look at."

Sighing in exasperation at Palmer's choice of words to describe the analysts and scientists, Lasky said, "Alright, Commander. I've got a Pelican inbound. ETA six mikes. Lasky out."

* * *

Six minutes later, the Spartans jumped onto the Pelican dropship without anymore hostile contact thanks to the chaos of the ripped hull and the CIC suddenly going silent. As the Pelican flew away from the Dreadnought, Lasky had the _Infinity_ move into position, and with a single shot, knocked the Dreadnought out of commission. As the five-kilometer ship moved on, and the remainder of the reinforced Battle Group Dakota began to press forward in the chaos caused by the _Infinity_'s action, Battle Group Charlemagne, forty-seven ships strong, entered NA-32. The Halcyon-class Light Cruisers led the way with Destroyers and Frigates following behind them, MACs and missile pods belching out ordinance that streaked to their targets with deadly accuracy.

Barely thirty minutes after the arrival of Charlemagne, the Turian fleet was no more, and the UNSC could focus on ground operations.

* * *

A.N.: So another chapter done. As you guys can tell, I've had a lot of free time to write this. I hope you guys enjoyed.

For those of you who are still following On the Brink (Rewrite), I'm currently finishing it before posting. I'm already within five or six chapters, hopefully, of finishing it. When I do finish it, and have a couple of my friends check it over, I'll start posting chapters once or twice a week, or once every day, so you have time to read each chapter before the end.

* * *

_"AL-19. The new class of water-based Carriers. Armed with a contingent of F-99 UCAVs, or "Ospreys", and a Mini-MAC, the AL-19 is cabable of being deployed anywhere by Infinity-class warships. Testing will begin after the construction of the second Infinity-class ship, the UNSC Destiny."_

_-Fleet Admiral Harper briefing Chief of Naval Operations Lord Admiral Hood_


	8. NA-32 Part Four

On the Brink: Alternate

NA-32 Part Four

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_"Advanced Orbital Soldiers. A concept only recently invented and tried during the border clashes with the Batarians, AOS are the elite military forces that into the battle zone by Orbital Entry Vehicles. Deployed from Frigates into a planet's atmosphere, the OEVs descend to the planet's surface, using parachutes to slow the descent down. Utilized by both AOS and Blackwatch operatives, and even being adopted by Spectres, these elite soldiers will ambush the enemy within their lines, cutting off supplies to front-line units in the attempt to wear them down."_

_-General Adrien Victus, the inventor of AOS_

* * *

Major Hestia Grant looked from the entrance of the cave at the enemy FOB that had been set up on top of the butte, her HUD zoomed in on the base so she could see the activities going on. Looking, she could see the snipers moving around in the guard towers, the mechanized infantry patrols moving around the FOB, and the gunships flying high. Turning her attention to the area around the FOB, she could see the reconnaissance platoon moving towards the FOB stealthily, keeping scopes from flashing against the sunlight or get outlined. Looking back at the FOB, she continued to watch their movements before the recon platoon said they were in position.

"Eclipse Six, this is Eclipse Four. We're in position around the enemy FOB. Snipers are ready to engage."

"Roger that, Eclipse Four. We're moving."

As another Frigate flew overhead, attracting the attention of enemy AA fire, Grant motioned for the platoon that was with her around the cave to move out, as she shook her head at the idiocy of the attackers. The Frigates were doing flybys to attract the attention of the enemy AA, and once they had a lock on the position, they were putting missiles downrange. As an explosion from an Archer missile rocked the ground, the ODSTs, used to it after three previous instances, stayed steady and kept moving.

"Eclipse Six, Eclipse Five. We're in position."

"Roger that, Five. Hold pos until green light."

Keeping low to the sand, the ODSTs managed to make it to their staging area without being spotted by the enemy snipers. Outside of the patrolling range, the ODSTs observed the FOB, while the JTAC assigned to their platoon marked targets for air support. Listening to her platoons saying that they were in position, Grant watched with slight amusement as some of her ODSTs were getting excited, with this being their first combat op.

"Eclipse Six, Eclipse One. We're in position. Waiting green light."

A smile crossing her face, Grant said, "Roger that, One. C-Two, this is Eclipse Six. We're chomping at the bit here. Waiting green light."

From the C-2 bird, Colonel Grist smiled at the words of Grant, and said, "Got it, Eclipse Six. You are green. I repeat, you are green."

Smiling even more, Grant said, "Eclipse, we are green! I repeat, we are green!"

As snipers from the recon platoon engaged their counterparts from concealed positions, the JTAC called in the Longswords waiting for the attack order. Dropping their payloads on the armored patrols, a mixture of napalm and 500-pound bombs striking with extreme accuracy. The 500-pound bombs destroyed the enemy armor, while the napalm roasted the ground forces where they stood. Ignoring the screams from the ignited enemies, the ODSTs moved across the sand towards the butte as Hornets and Pelicans flew overhead, snipers taking shots from the aircraft.

When they got to the base of the butte, the ODSTs halted, and waited for the strike that would take out the tanks positioned around the only entrance into the FOB. The Hornets came in low and fast, flying nap of the earth to avoid any enemy radar, and surprised the enemy with the sudden appearance of eight VTOLs. Rockets flew at the tanks while the guns took out enemy infantry before the Hornets flew off as enemy ground fire became too hot, leaving the wreckage of four tanks behind.

"Viking One, Eclipse Six. Good effect on target. We're moving up."

"Roger that, Eclipse Six. We'll be on stand-by for support."

The ODSTs moved out from the staging area, running towards the FOB, going from cover to cover. Under the watchful eye of their snipers, there was no enemy fire until they got to the only way into the FOB besides an aerial attack. As the ODSTs approached, heavy weapons fire opened up on them, taking out the lead squad within seconds before the rest of the assaulting company found cover and returned fire. Hearing the groans of the survivors from the first shots, Grant looked for any way to move forward without getting hit. When she found none, she knew that she would need fire support.

"Viking One, Eclipse Six. We're taking heavy fire from inside the FOB. We need support now!"

"Roger that, Eclipse Six. Viking's inbound to provide support, laze those targets for us."

The recon platoon snipers did that for her, and when the Hornets came in, rockets and chainguns blasted at the buildings where the enemy fire was coming from, ignoring the high volume of small-arms fire in favor of supporting the ODSTs. Under the covering fire, the ODSTs pushed into the FOB, leaving a squad and some medics behind to cover and treat the wounded, while the rest pushed forward, throwing grenades at enemy positions and laying down fire so the Hornets could disengage.

Grant saw the barrel sticking out of the window, and caught reloading her M395 DMR, she rolled out of the way as automatic fire tore up where she had been, and ran to cover. Not bothering to reload, she drew her M6D and fired at the window, her HUD connected to the 2x scope and allowing her to fire without showing too much of her body. With rounds slamming into the wall near it, the rifle disappeared, and Grant took advantage of the bad move. Quickly reloading, the ODST ran forward while putting rounds downrange. Getting too the window, she looked through the window, and seeing the hostile kneeling below it, emptied the rest of the clip into the alien, the heavy rounds breaking through its shield and armor. As it dropped, she kept her eye on it to make sure that it was dead, before she trained her eyes on the rest of the room. Seeing that it was clear, she reloaded her DMR and moved away from it to check where the rest of her company was.

"Eclipse, sound off."

After all of her platoon and squad leaders checked in, she found that three fireteam leaders were down, and there were a total of seventeen dead and thirty-six wounded. With the building where the heaviest amount of fire came from, the ODSTs moved in called for reinforcements to set up a cordon around the FOB before they moved in.

* * *

Staff Sergeant John Walsh sat in the M12 Warthog's passenger seat as Private Frank Delgado drove it towards the enemy FOB. The Marine NCO checked his BR85HB as they neared the AO, not leaving anything to chance.

"Raider Two-Bravo, you're going to be holding position on the northeastern corner of the FOB, watching towards the mountains. 3rd Recon's picking up some enemy movements south from there, which is going to put them right in your sector. Be ready for contact."

"Roger that, Raider Two. Corporal Nylund, I want you on the M41, watching for any enemy air. Hernandez, Sergei, stay on the LAAGs. The rest of you, I want a perimeter around the 'Hogs."

There was a round of "Aye, sirs" from 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment as the reinforced battalion moved into the AO, Scorpions, Warthogs, and Elephants taking position around the enemy FOB. When Delgado parked the M12 at the corner of the FOB they were assigned to cover, the squad except for Hernandez and Sergei dismounted and formed a perimeter around the 'Hogs, with Nylund staying close to provide support with his M41 if it became necessary. With the Marines covering their six, including a couple of fireteams assisting the two platoons of ODSTs taksed with holding the interior of the FOB, Major Grant gave the go order.

"Let's move, Helljumpers."

* * *

Flashbangs were thrown into the structure, and as they went off, the ODSTs, separated into fireteams, broke down the doors into the building and searched for hostiles. A couple of bursts of fire marked the ODSTs finding their targets and eliminating them, before moving further into the building, which looked like a large command center. Having turned out the lights with some help from Westmoreland, an AI that believed himself to be the famous American General, the ODSTs were using night-vision to have an advantage over their enemy. Moving through the rooms, the platoon formed back up in squads at three different staircases that were leading up.

Leading Eclipse Two-Charlie, Grant motioned for the squad to freeze as light lit up the stairs. Hiding in the shadows, the ODSTs black armor helping them, they watched as three aliens descended the stairs. As soon as they confirmed it was only three, the ODSTs opened fire, dropping shields and piercing through armor as they eliminated the hostiles. Seeing a grenade being thrown under the stairs, the ODSTs waited for it to explode before moving up the stairs, throwing a mixture of frags and flashbangs ahead of them. Hearing what sounded like cries after the explosives went off, the ODSTs moved forward.

Her DMR firing, the noise not at all muffled by her flash hider, the surviving Turians dropped quickly, 3rd Squad pounding rounds through barriers, armor, and flesh. When the other two squads got up to the second floor, the crossfire was too much, and the surviving Turians raised their arms in surrender. Cautiously approaching them, a fireteam from 2nd Squad moved to cuff them.

Keeping an eye on the Turians to make sure they didn't do anything, the ODSTs were still surprised when three of the prisoners suddenly began glowing blue and a shield grew around them. Caught within the shield, the fireteam from 2nd Squad didn't have a chance as automatic fire from the other four prisoners took them down. Firing at the shield as they moved into cover, the ODSTs kept up the pressure as the Turians, with one of them keeping a shield up around them all the time, began moving out of the building, trading shots.

"This is Eclipse Six. We've got an enemy squad escaping! And they're protected by some fucking magic shield!"

* * *

Hearing that, Corporal Drew Nolan yelled out, "Third Squad, keep your eyes peeled!"

As the ODSTs and Marines surrounding the building took cover, rifles pointed at the entrances, Nolan switched his MA5D to semi-automatic to get the most accurate fire, and waited. When the glowing blue dome shown through the walls, the Marines tensed, ready for anything. Or so they thought.

* * *

Commander Vymnus led the way through the door, watching as bullets hit the biotic shield, but didn't pass through. Raising his assault rifle, he fired accurate single shots at the enemy, smirking in satisfaction as the armor was pierced and blood spilled from his enemies. Hearing the beep that let him know his heat sink was out, he popped it out with a hiss and loaded a new one, and resumed firing.

"Commander, I can't hold up the shield for much longer."

"Lieutenant Abrudas, switch off with Oraka. Keep up the fire!"

Seeing the shield, which had been noticeably weakening, replaced by a stronger one, Vymnus continued to lead the way through the base they had set up, knowing that the AOS and Blackwatch operatives were still in the mountains, and would provide support. As their accurate fire continued to drop their enemies, Vymnus began to worry slightly about their ammo situation. Down to three remaining heat sinks after the quick firefight when the Lawbreakers attacked his command center, the Turian knew the way things were going, with them being constantly in contact, that they would run out of ammo fast.

But they kept shooting anyway, and when their last heat sink ran out, they switched to their Carnifex pistols, which packed a punch like the Phaeston. As they moved down the road, their fronts facing to the Lawbreakers in the base, they never noticed their mistake until bullets tore through the biotic shield that was being put up by Abrudas.

With bullets bouncing off, and overloading his kinetic barrier, Vymnus turned, and raised his Phaeston, a show of Turian strength. Unfortunately for him, the gunners on the LAAGs were accurate, having practiced against live targets on battlefields against the Covenant, and before he could shoot, a bullet pierced his head, killing him instantly. The other Turians didn't last long either, and their blood was soon going down the slight hill that led to the FOB.

* * *

First Lieutenant Dean Coats stood in the cave, observing the enemy fireteam moving down the mountain with the eye of experience. Having earned his place in MARSOC a long time ago stalking Covenant lances through the mountainous terrain of New Jerusalem, Coats had found himself the best position to observe the movements of the enemy while remaining hidden from their own observers. Shifting slightly and bringing his SRS99-S5AM to his shoulder, he scoped in on the six-man fireteam.

"Massani, you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Gunnery Sergeant Zaeed Massani, Coats's platoon sergeant at twenty-two years his senior, said, "I've got the bastards scoped in. You've got first shot, Dean."

"Roger. Firing in three...two...one."

The 14.5x114mm round slammed into the chest of the rear alien, and exited out the other side. With a gurgle, the alien dropped, before a second alien's head was nearly taken off by the Gunny shooting him in the throat. As the fireteam realized they were under fire and tried to find the source of the shooting, another two were taken down before the remaining two tried to run, only to be shot in the back by the sniper duo.

"That's the sixth one today."

In reply to Massani's comment, Coats said, "Just like Haestrom."

Chuckling fondly at the idiocy of the Brutes on Haestrom, Massani marked their kills in the log that was required by 3rd Recon's CO, Major Mangan, before he said, "Looks like the FOB's secure."

Training his scope on the FOB, Coats saw that he was right, and said, "What's the estimated number of hostiles in this range again?"

"Three hundred, Dean. And we've gotten over a hundred of the bastards in the time we've been up here."

Coats chuckled lightly, before saying, "We've got two fireteams moving down the mountain. One sniper's among them. Take him out first."

Sighting in on the two fireteams, Massani said, "Scoped in. You've got first shot."

The enemy sniper was the first one to drop, followed by the hostile with a launcher. With the sudden dropping of two of their men, the Turians tried to find and take cover, but it was no use. Caught in a crossfire from the two MARSOC operators that had positioned themselves on higher ground, they were getting shot in the back. When one fireteam was taken down, the other tried to kill the two snipers with random bursts of fire as they moved back where they had come from. But the MARSOC operators let loose from their sniper rifles in a rapid rate of fire, the range close enough to where they didn't worry about missing shots.

When the last Turian dropped, Zaeed said, "This is getting a little too easy. I don't like it."

"When do you like something, Gunny?"

* * *

Lieutenant Adrien Talid scanned the slopes of the mountain with his Krysae anti-material sniper rifle, trying to pick out the snipers that were hunting his men down. Combined with the air strikes that were being dropped on his men, the sniper attacks were very deadly, taking out his squads with very little effort on their part. Having been brought down to fifty of his original two hundred, Talid had to admit that things weren't looking good, with his men spread out in small groups that were trying their best to stay hidden while maneuvering.

Looking away from the scope of his rifle, he said, "Sergeant Pallin, you're good to go. Move up."  
"Roger that, Lieutenant. Fifth Squad's moving."

The eight Turians that made up Fifth Squad moved across the natural path built into the mountain, rifles scanning for any hostiles. When the first explosive detonated in the middle of the squad, it was too late for them to escape the trap. As the mines that had been hidden among the rocky terrain were manually detonated, bullets flew downrange into the flesh of his men.

"Pallin, get the hell out of there!"

It was too late though, and the last Turian fell. Luckily for Talid, he didn't have to deal with the guilt for long as a bullet went through his skull.

* * *

"Tango down."

Calmly reloading his SRS99-S5AM, Coats said, "Got it. We've got friendlies moving into the mountains."

Watching the Marines and ODSTs moving into the mountains, Coats made sure they weren't ambushed, until Colonel Grist contacted them, "Foxhound Six, this is C-Two. We're picking you up."

As a Pelican landed near his position, Coats boarded it to find Colonel Grist waiting for him.

"Good work out there, Lieutenant. But I'm afraid that your job's not done yet. We're going to the other side."

* * *

Lieutenant Mordin Solus hummed as he watched the images from the probe. The Salarian doctor finished jotting down his notes on the military catastrophe that the Turians had gotten themselves into, before he turned to his parter, Ensign Bel Anoleis, and took the notes that the STG ensign had taken. Anoleis didn't even notice, the future operations planner reviewing the footage of the battle to make potential strategies against the militaristic race that had defeated the Turians if things ever went bad. Walking to their supervisor, Captain Solik Bau, Mordin organized the notes they had taken.

"Captain, here's the notes we've compiled on the Turian battle."

Bau rapidly read through them, and said, "Excellent work, Lieutenant. Keep reviewing the footage, and see if you can get anything on their physiology. I've got to take this to General Vass."

* * *

A.N.: So I jumped around a lot, but I think it's still a good chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

* * *

_"The Scorpion's had a couple of upgrades added to it. Instead of using the M512 Smooth Bore High Velocity Cannon, which fires 90mm rounds, we've replaced it with the M514 Smooth Bore High Velocity Cannon, which has been upgraded to using 120mm shells. Using a high variety of rounds, including AP, HEAT, and canister, the Scorpion is a dangerous foe on any battlefield."_

_-Brigadier General James Wallace_


	9. Reactions

On the Brink: Alternate

Reactions

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_"They'll follow you into hell, Chief."_

_-Lord Admiral Terrence Hood to Commander John-117, "Chief"_

* * *

Below HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6 in Sydney, Australia, Lord Admiral Terrence Hood read the report that had been sent by Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi, waiting for the last member of the UNSC Security Committee to arrive. Major General Nicholas Strauss, representing the Marine Corps, Colonel Hedley, representing the Army, and Colonel Adkinson, representing the Air Force, were already there, and they were just waiting on the ONI liason, Captain Serin Osman, to arrive. They had all read the report sent to them multiple times, but Hood wanted to get a bigger understanding for the inevitable attempt by Osman to force a decision that would benefit Parangosky's interests.

Looking up when he heard the door open, he saw the Kilo-Five commander walk in, the door being held open by one of the MPs.

"Sorry I'm late, Admiral. Traffic was heavier than expected."

Staring the ONI Captain down, Hood ignored what she said, slightly wondering what she was planning, before he said, "Alright, since we're all here, this meeting can start. I'm assuming we've all read Mawikizi's report?"

There were nods all around, and Hood said, "Good. Now, I've dispatched Vice Admiral Kastatine Drescher and 2nd Fleet to add some numbers to Fleet Admiral Mawikizi in case the Turians try to attack again. But until we figure out if we're going to go on the attack, or stay on the defensive, Mawikizi is going to remain at NA-32 with orders to defend it. So, are we going on the offensive? Or are we going to wait for them to attempt peace?"

Osman, having already made her decision, said, "We go on the offensive. They can't get away with attacking our territory. It will set bad relations with the other races."

Staring at Osman, Hood said, "Understood. So one vote for the offensive."

Strauss and Hedley both voted for offensive, while Adkinson voted for defensive.

With a three-to-one vote in favor of attacking, Hood said, "So we'll attack. I want our defense forces prepared for any possible attack on any of our worlds, including Earth. We don't know much about these Mass Relays, but the intel packet from Roland says that they can look like moons. Just be ready. Osman, I want intel assets in their space as soon as possible without them being compromised."

As they all nodded, Hood said, "I'll let President Garcia know."

* * *

Councillor Esheel sat in one of the comfortable chairs in the Council Lounge off of the Chambers, waiting for her Asari counterpart. Looking over the reports that STG had sent her on her omni-tool, she familiarized herself with the material before Councillor Tevos would arrive. She shook her head as she read about the foolishness of the Turians, fighting a war before it was won, and before they even knew who they were fighting against for that matter, only looking up when she heard the elevator open up.

Watching her Asari counterpart, she smirked when Tevos, known for her patience, impatiently asked, "What am I here for, Esheel?"

"Just read, Tevos."

Tossing Tevos her omni-tool, Esheel sat back and watched Tevos as she read the reports from STG. Humming a tune that her mother use to sing to her, Esheel waited patiently, enjoying the sounds of Tevos's frustration as she read about the idiocy of the Turians.

Looking up when Tevos threw her back the omni-tool, she listened as the Councillor said, "I'm calling Sparatus here, and asking him to explain himself. Then tomorrow, we'll convene in the Chambers and make a decision on what to do."

As she walked out of the Lounge to the elevator that would take her to her private quarters, Esheel said, "I'll assume that you'll tell me what he said, right?"

At the Asari's nod, Esheel closed the elevator door, and enjoyed the high-speed ride to her floor, where several STG agents were waiting for her.

"Any further updates on the Relay 314 situation?"

The leader of her protection detail, Captain Kirrahe, said, "The Turians have started mobilizing more of their forces. Already, three of their fleets are moving to the Relay. And the newcomers brought in reinforcements. Things are heating up, Councillor."

"I'll be in my room. Let me know when Tevos contacts me for a meeting."

* * *

In the Lounge, Tevos glared at Sparatus as he read the information on her omni-tool.

When he finished, throwing the omni-tool to his side, Tevos said, "Explain yourself. Now."

The Turian Councillor looked at her, and said, "Captain Vakarian was on a standard patrol when he received orders to go to U-71, part of the 25th's patrol. Now, these orders weren't sent from us. The codes were right, everything was how it was supposed to be, but those orders never came from the top. And when Vakarian's fleet met the newcomers, he told his ships not to fire, believing that the newcomers were peaceful, based off of the guess that they looked like you. An order came through to a ship, and with it using Vakarian's voice and face, the ship commander followed the order, firing on the newcomers. You know the rest."

If possible, Tevos became even madder at the Turian, "Then why did you go through the damn Relay? Why not try to explain that something went wrong, and try to achieve peace! Now we have an unknown race, that can stand against a Turian fleet, outnumbered four-to-one, and emerge victorious that's going to be coming into our space in revenge! Who knows how big their military is?"

Sparatus was silent, then said, "That's exactly why we attacked! To keep them from taking revenge by destroying our planets, killing our people! And with their ability to not be reliant on eezo, they would've had an advantage over us! We had to take them down fast, and their technology would've given us an advantage over the Batarians! The Citadel would've been the dominant force, and we wouldn't have to deal with the Batarians taking slaves anymore!"

"Do you even care that you would be destroying a sentient species's culture? Their entire civilization? I doubt they would've accepted become a client race, Sparatus. Especially after the effort they went through to keep your fleet from breaking out of the system. And how would you have continued the fight without a system of Relays? I'm sure you noticed that the system didn't contain a Mass Relay."

Sparatus was silent, thinking, before his omni-tool beeped. Looking at it, Tevos became slightly worried when his eyes widened.

"The newcomers are attacking!"

* * *

A.N.: So a short chapter, just to show the reactions of both sides leadership.

* * *

_"What a fucking mess."_

_-Petty Officer First Class Kelly-087_


	10. Through the Relay Part One

On the Brink: Alternate

Through the Relay

Disclaimer: Bioware owns the Mass Effect series. Microsoft and 343 Industries own Halo.

* * *

_"The Flood is still out there."_

_-Lord Admiral Terrence Hood_

* * *

Captain Thomas Lasky looked at the fleet that had been assembled to go through the Relay. At a hundred and thirty-six ships, the fleet was an impressive sight. Six Marathon-class Heavy Cruisers, thirty Halcyon-class Light Cruisers, seven modified Phoenix-class colony ships, a Carrier, three repair-and-fefit stations, eighty-eight Frigates and Destroyers, and the _Infinity_. Under the command of Fleet Admiral Mawikizi, the fleet would be able to handle anything that came into their path. Leaving sixty-four ships to defend NA-32, with reinforcements capable of arriving in a heartbeat, the fleet was ready to go through and take revenge for their fallen._  
_

"All ships, this is Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi. I have been given the great honor of commanding every last one of you as we go through the Relay to take revenge for our fallen. These _Turians_ need to understand that no one, not even ourselves, gets with killing our comrades. Now, I don't know what will be on the other side, but if there's nothing on the other side, or there's fucking Forerunners supporting the bastards, we will give them the biggest ass-kicking that has ever been seen in the universe, and teach them that no one fucks with the UNSC. All ships, let's go kick some ass."

As the _Leviathan_ set off for the Relay and cheers echoed throughout every ship that was going through the Relay, Lasky said, "Take us through."

The _Infinity_ followed the _Leviathan_ to the Relay, where Roland sent the ship's mass to the FTL device. As the two ships were shot across the galaxy by the Primary Relay, the rest of the fleet followed behind them.

When the _Infinity_ arrived with the rest of the fleet, drifting slightly from the sudden deceleration, Lasky let his eyes rest on the enemy fleet for a second before Mawikizi appeared on screen, "All ships, I'm having two sets of firing solutions sent to you. When I give the order, fire the first salvo. Stay in formation until the second salvo is fired, then break and close in on the enemy. Good luck, all of you."

Mawikizi disappeared from the screen, and Lasky turned to Roland, but the AI beat him to it, "Already sent the firing solutions to Chambers."

Nodding in approval, Lasky said, "Have the squadrons on standby, along with our ground forces."

"Aye, Captain."

Lasky turned away from Roland to turn his attention on the Turian fleet, which was waiting for the UNSC to make a move. He calmly stood by the holotable, waiting for Mawikizi's order to fire.

It didn't take long for it to come as barely a minute into the standoff, the Fleet Admiral appeared on screen, and said, "All ships, fire!"

Like Lasky, the Fleet Admiral thought it was best to keep the _Infinity_'s energy projector a secret as his ship shuddered lightly from the firing of the four MACs. The rest of the fleet joined in on the salvo, the MAC rounds speeding across the system to their targets. At the extreme range they had to fire, over fifty percent of the devastating rounds missed, but with a hundred and thirty-four ships letting loose, with multiple rounds coming from forty-four of those ships, there were still a lot of rounds that made contact. Just fast enough to cause the Turians' kinetic barriers to activate, the MAC rounds blew right past them, the kinetic barriers built to handle something that sacrificed power for speed, instead of the other way around. Ripping through Frigates, Cruisers, and even a Dreadnought, the MAC rounds took out sixty-seven Turian ships, a Dreadnought among them. Even though the Turians had a four-to-one number advantage, the devastating salvo affected the Turians enough to where their response wasn't nearly as deadly as it should've been._  
_

In a repeat of the battle at NA-32, the three repair-and-refit stations moved in front of the UNSC fleet, taking the hits that could have devastated them. As the _Homecoming_, _Fix-It Felix_, and _Need A Hand_ were destroyed with no lifeboats launched, a moment of silence passed through the UNSC fleet.

Mawikizi ended that silence with, "All ships, fire!"

The second salvo from the UNSC left their MACs, and the Fleet Admiral yelled, "All ships, break ranks and close in!"

As the MACs screamed towards their targets, the UNSC fleet broke ranks and closed in on the Turians, who broke their own ranks to close the distance. The MAC rounds were largely ineffective with the extreme distance allowing the Turians to start moving before they arrived at their destinations, although a wolfpack of Frigates was annihilated by multiple MAC rounds. As the distance closed, the Turians released disruptor torpedoes at their UNSC counterparts, intending to overwhelm their energy shielding and opening them up for a salvo from the mass accelerators.

UNSC 50mm autocannons opened up on the torpedoes, and as the torpedoes closed in, the heavier ships moved in front of their smaller brethren, their larger contingent of autocannos took out more of the torpedoes than the smaller ships would've. Only twelve torpedoes, out of the original hundreds, remained after the combined fire, to hit the energy shielding of a Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser and an Infinity-class capital ship, which handled the torpedoes' random and unstable mass effect fields with no problem. With their energy shielding only slightly depleted, the two ships shrugged off the hits and continued to lead the way in.

With Paul and Roland's help, they were able to find ships that had lost their kinetic barriers, and seeing the opportunity, they launched Archer, Howler, and Rapier missiles at the unprotected ships. The firing solutions were true, and the number of missiles that were held in the oversized missile pods overwhelmed the GUARDIAN laser defenses, with over half of the missiles hitting their targets, destroying several Frigates and crippling many others.

Lasky said, "Roland, I want firing solutions on the ships giving the right flank fits."

Roland knew what he was talking about. Three Cruisers and a Dreadnought had taken up position at a moon, and from their position, they could hide behind the moon before the MACs hit their target. Their mass accelerators were hitting ships without energy shields, disabling Frigates or giving the Destroyers and Halcyons something to worry about.

"Done, sir. Slipspace engine is at seventy percent sir, enough to do an in-system jump."

"Go ahead, Roland. Chambers, be ready to hit the enemy as soon as we exit."

"Aye, sir."

As a slipspace portal opened in front of the Infinity, Lasky hoped that this ploy worked or they would be away from the rest of the battle for no reason.

Emerging from slipspace less than a minute later, right behind the enemy group at the moon, Lasky said, "Wepps, fire."

The four MACs fired, and each round hit their target from a distance of twelve kilometers. As the kinetic barriers on the Dreadnought managed to hold the MAC, Lasky didn't even have to tell his navigation officer, Lieutenant Swales, to adjust course. The _Infinity_ slammed straight into the Dreadnought, slicing it in half with no noticable damage done to the almost six-kilometer long ship.

"Hull integrity at area of impact is at a hundred percent, sir."

Lasky ignored the update from Roland in favor of watching the _Leviathan_ unleash another hail of missiles point-blank into an enemy Cruiser, before smashing into a Frigate, energy shielding flickering under the hit. As the UNSC fleet wrecked havoc on the Turian fleet, Lasky had his ship moving along the Turians' left flank, MAC salvos unleashing right into the side.

Seeing the effectiveness of the fire coming from the flank, a Halcyon copied his decision on the left flank, and with the UNSC bearing down from the front, missiles and MACs tearing up kinetic barriers and hulls alike, the Turians were forced to begin moving to the edge of the system. Knowing that they were most likely going to enter their own form of FTL, Lasky went to alert the Fleet Admiral.

"Sir, they may be attempting to go into their FTL travel. Without the Relay, they have a conventional method that they can use."

Mawikizi said, "Then cut them off, Captain. Interrupt them. If they go slamming into your ship, then so be it. We don't want them to have any knowledge of ship size or anything."

"Aye, sir."

As Mawikizi disappeared off screen, Lasky said, "How's our slipspace generators, Roland?"

"A hundred percent sir."

"Take us to their rear, we're cutting their FTL lines off. Even if it means they'll go slamming into our hull."

There was a slight pause of less than a second, but Lasky, having worked with Roland enough, noticed it.

"Aye, sir."

Another slipspace portal opened in front of the _Infinity_, and as the ship went through it, Lasky quickly crossed himself, something he always did during slipspace travel after a slipspace accident while on the UNSC _Gettysburg_. A minute later, the capital ship appeared at the rear of the Turian forces, just as the first ship went into FTL. The Turian Frigate, with safeguards to prevent a ship commander from snapping and sending his ship crashing into another at FTL speeds, suddenly stopped before it hit the _Infinity_.

With no shields, the 50mm autocannons on the capital ship ripped right through its hull as the _Infinity_ passed, killing the whole crew inside as the eezo core exploded.

"Well sir, it appears that blocking their FTL vectors work."

"No shit, Roland."

* * *

With the _Infinity_'s success at blocking the Turian FTL vectors, more ships joined in getting to the rear of the Turian lines, keeping the Turians from leaving. Surrounded on all sides, the Turians had little choice but to try and break out. With a concerted assault on their left flank, they fought their way out of the encirclement due to some of the UNSC officers commanding the ships on the left flank having lapses in judgement. Getting close to the system's garden world's moon, they released shuttles to head groundside and force a ground battle. Longswords attempted to keep them from landing, and although they depleted the amount of shuttles, the fighters covering the shuttles managed to keep the Longswords too busy to put an actual effort in taking the shuttles out. Pelican dropships were released from the UNSC ships, including a Prowler that had been in system since the beginning, using their stealth systems to get footage of the battle in order for strategies against the Turians to be made.

As the Turians rapidly tried to fortify the lone facility on the moon, a former STG monitoring post, the Marines on the ground began to put pressure on them.

* * *

Lieutenant Coats observed the enemy operations base as the Marines moved in closer, his finger ready to put the ounce of pressure needed to pull the trigger of his SRS99-S5. Massani was in the Pelican with him, spotting for him since the extreme range required it. The Pelican was hovering about a hundred meters off of the ground, six hundred meters away from the base, giving him the perfect firing position. As the Pelican moved into its next position, one of six that was being covered by 3rd Recon, Coats scoped in on a Turian walking along the rooftop of the lone building.

The snipers were holding their fire to keep the Turians from noticing the Marines approaching the base, but the Turian was in a position to where if he looked to his left, he would spot the Marines approaching the south entrance.

"C-Two, this is Recon Six. We've got a guard on the rooftop with a perfect opportunity to spot the Marines moving up on the south entrance. Requesting permission to fire."

In the C-Two Pelican flying a kilometer away, Brigadier General Hal Moore, looked at the imagery coming in, and said, "Go ahead, Recon Six."

Coats dialed in, and Zaeed began feeding him information on the wind, the distance, the Coriolis Effect, the elevation, and the target's speed. Taking a deep breath and letting out slowly, Coats gave an ounce of pressure. The sniper rifle bucked against his shoulder, and the 14.5x114mm round left the rifle, travelling to the Turian. Two seconds later, the Turian dropped off of the roof of the building, and Coats winced, hoping against all hope that the Turians didn't start to shoot.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the Marines on the southern entrance, who would've been dead to rights if the Turians started shooting, made it to cover, ready to begin the assault.

"Raider Four in position."

"Raider Five in position."

"Raider One in position."

"Raider Three in position."

"Raider Two in position."

"C-Two, this is Raider Six. We're ready, sir."

"Launch."

At the order, the Marines started the assault on the base, rockets flying at the lone structure while small-arms fire started. The surprised Turians, all of them hunkering down in the structure, tried to return fire, but the Marines had rounds going through every window as they advanced, and whenever a Turian did poke his head out, one of the six hovering snipers had him dead to rights. Soon, the Marines were throwing grenades into windows as they got within range, shooting through the ground floor windows at targets within.

A couple of Marines were dropped by the return fire, the grain-sized rounds passing through their body armor like butter. They were dragged away by their buddies to where the corpsmen had set up their treatment area, a huge boulder protecting them from any fire coming from the structure, and once they were under the care of the corpsmen, those who took them to the corpsmen returned to their fireteams.

Grenades and flashbangs were thrown in through the first floor windows, and as the shrapnel flew and bright light filled the vision of the Turian defenders on the first floor, the Marines moved in. MA5Ds were held up to shoulders as they overwhelmed the ground floor defenders, taking three prisoners. Flashbangs and frags were thrown up the stairs onto the second floor while the sniper-carrying Pelicans lowered their altitude so 3rd Recon could get better shots.

"Target, eight o'clock of the stairwell. 615 meters, wind is coming in from the northwest, third notch."

Making the necessary changes to his aim, Coats said, "Firing."

The rifle bucked, and the round smashed through the brick that made up the structure, only stopping when it struck the target's chest. As the Turian fell, the Marines rushed up from the stairs, and quickly began to move on the cowering Turians who suffered greatly under the effects of the flashbangs.

"C-Two, Raider Six. Building's secured, we're searching for any intelligence."

"Roger that, Raider Six. Hurry it up. We don't want to be in-system longer than necessary."

* * *

An hour later, the Pelicans full of Marines lifted off from the moon's surface, leaving behind a HAVOK tactical nuke at the STG facility. The onsite exploitation of intelligence was fruitful, and Marines had immediately got it off world and to the ONI prowler that was shadowing Mawikizi's fleet.

Once the Pelicans were safely in their ships, using coordinates that Roland had found when he hacked into Vakarian's patrol fleeet, entered slipspace, their destination a system with another Relay, a Secondary one this time around. As they exited slipspace only minutes later, the fleet went through the Secondary Relay, their destination the system known as Hydra. They passed through Hydra, which contained two Mass Relays, and began their path to the homeworld of the Turian aggressors, Palaven.

* * *

**[Unknown ships, large amount, spotted in system known to the Creators as U-61. Went through Secondary Relay, destination unknown.]**

**[Collective understands. Will be on lookout for unknowns.]**

* * *

A.N.: This chapter was probably the fastest chapter I've wrote in my life. I hope you guys enjoyed. And sorry for my horrible attempt at writing Geth.

* * *

_"Maybe we panicked, alright? It still doesn't change things. They kicked us off of Rannoch, and now we're in full open warfare. Do you think the Council would still allow us in their space when they learn of the many systems that suffered through our war against the Geth? We need to fix our mistake. If it means peace with the Geth, fine. But right now, it means we exterminate the Geth. And we're going to do it, even if it kills every last one of us. The Geth will not have Rannoch."_

_-Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema_


	11. Through the Relay Part Two

On the Brink: Alternate

Through the Relay Part Two

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

* * *

_"We will exterminate the Sangheili and the Humans! Not even their Demons can stop us!"_

_-Tartarus II_

* * *

Fleet Admiral Mawikizi stood in the bridge of the UNSC _Leviathan_ as he looked at the Relay that would take them to their destination. Over seven hours of Relay and slipspace jumps in order to avoid getting caught by the Turians or any of the other Council races before they wanted to be seen had got them here, one Relay jump away from their target. The rest of his fleet was spread throughout the system, systematically searching for probes or any ships that were watching them under stealth, while the three Prowlers that only his bridge crew knew was accompanying them prepared for their jump to their target system, using the cover of another transit being observed by a probe dropped by one of said Prowlers.

"Admiral Mawikizi, this is Captain Richard Lash of the _Dusk_. We're preparing for the jump now, estimated time for the jump is one minute."

Jean looked at the image of the experienced Prowler officer, and said, "Got it, Lash. Make sure you guys don't get compromised. You're ships will valuable."

"Aye, sir. Captain Lash out."

Mawikizi watched as the three Prowlers disappeared from the system as they arrived in the target system, using the transit of seventeen ships as cover from being compromised.

"Admiral, this is Captain Lash. We are safely in Widow. I repeat, we are in Widow. We're taking positions now for observation."

"Good. You are to merely observe until I say otherwise or you are compromised. We don't want this attempt at peace going down the drain before it even begins."

"Aye, sir."

"Mawikizi out."

As the member of the UNSC Prowler Corps left the screen, Jean said, "Ensign Warren, get me comms with the _Infinity_."

"Aye, sir. Comms established."

"Captain Lasky, be ready for transit. I want you to accompany me to Widow. This is a mission of peace, not one of war, so your ship and my own will go through the Relay. But if things go south, do whatever it takes to get out of there, son. The UNSC needs the _Infinity_, and you."

Lasky said, "Aye, sir. I hope you will be on my six."

Giving his protege a fond smile, Jean said, "We'll see, Tom. Who knows, things may work out. Tell your crew to get ready to go through the Relay, Tom. I'll alert you when there's ten minutes before we leave. Mawikizi out."

As Lasky saluted before his image disappeared from screen, Jean leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes, the Command Neural Interface in his brain allowing him to simulate rest while his ears were tuned for anybody trying to talk to him. While the rest of his bridge crew went about their duties in preparation for the jump through the Relay, Mawikizi caught up on some much needed rest.

He opened his eyes when Warren said, "Sir, Captain Lash has reported that his Prowlers are in position."

"Good. Get me a line with Captain Lasky. Paul, is the ship ready for transit?"

The AI said, "Aye, sir. Ready when you are."

"Sir, Captain Lasky is on comms."

Looking at his protege's face, the Fleet Admiral said, "Captain, ten minutes before transit. Make sure you're ready."

"Aye, sir."

"When my ship starts moving, follow it. I want your weapon systems, including the energy projector, at a hundred percent. Be ready for anything. Mawkizi out."

As Tom's face disappeared from screen, the Fleet Admiral said, "Warren, I need a line with Vice Admiral Drescher."

A few seconds later, Warren said, "Done, sir."

"Vice Admiral, I will be leaving through the Relay into another system in nine minutes with the _Infinity_. In my absence, you will be commanding the fleet. Do not fire, unless fired upon. This is a mission of peace, and we don't want to ruin it before it starts. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Smiling, he said, "Good. Don't make me disappointed, Admiral. Mawikizi out."

For the next seven minutes, the bridge crew made sure that weapons were at a hundred percent and that the energy shielding, now on all of the new Marathon-class Heavy Cruisers being made, was as well.

When it was finally time to go through the Relay, Warren got Lasky on comms again, and Mawikizi asked, "You ready to go, Tom?"

"Yes, sir. We'll be on your six."

"Good. Helm, take us through."

Paul and Roland sent their respective ship mass to the Relay, and as energy sparked on their hulls, the two ships disappeared.

* * *

Matriarch Lidanya, commander of the ASV _Destiny Ascension_, the largest Dreadnought ever seen by any Council races, although the Turian battle reports that STG intercepted and Lidanya was privileged to read, that wasn't the case any more, looked at the massive sight of the Citadel as the Dreadnought held its position next to the station that housed the Council, ready to evacuate the leaders of the Citadel at a moment's notice. Shuttles and elite Asari Commandos were on stand-by in the hangars for any threat to the Citadel, be it Batarians or the new race on the galactic scale, ready to descend to the Council Lounge where the Councillors and their Spectre and C-Sec guards would be waiting for dust-off. Modified shuttles with mass accelerators would be acting as escorts for the shuttles in case the enemy moved fast, like the terrorist attack that hit the Citadel about a thousand years ago. _  
_

As a Frigate moved past the _Destiny Ascension_, Lidanya said, "Hwakas, move us three kilometers closer to the station."

Hwakas, the _Destiny Ascension_'s pilot, did so as Lidanya's instinct began screaming at her that something was wrong, but she didn't know what.

She found out what was wrong when Lieutenant Aetyas yelled, "Matriarch, the Widow Relay is showing signs of use! No IFF or codewords detected!"

The whole fleet guarding the Citadel, numbering around five hundred ships in total, trained their mass accelerators on the Widow Relay, before two of the ships belonging to the unknown race appeared, both of them bigger than the _Destiny Ascension_.

Lidanya was about to give the order to fire, when her comms officer yelled, "Matriarch, the unknowns are sending a message on all frequencies!"

"Play it through."

Fleet Admiral Mawikizi's voice was heard throughout the CIC as he said, "My name is Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi, and I come in peace."

After the message looped for the fifth time, and the unknown ships didn't fire, Lidanya said, "Tell all ships to hold their fire, and send this message to the Council, C-Sec, and the Spectres. I want this message translated as soon as possible to find out what it means."

As her CIC jumped into action, Lidanya hoped she made the right decision.

* * *

A.N.: Another chapter done, since now I'm out of summer school, I have a lot of free time on my hands when I'm not working or doing other stuff. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

* * *

_"We are outnumbered and outgunned. Yet we are keeping the Brutes from ravaging our worlds. How?"_

_-Colonel Margaret Scott, UNSC Air Force_


	12. Through the Relay Part Three

On the Brink: Alternate

Through the Relay Part Three

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing!

* * *

_"Someday we will win. No matter what it takes."_

_-High-ranking Insurrectionist in Elysium City, 2513_

* * *

Sitting in the Council Lounge, surrounded by Spectres and C-Sec officers, the three Councillors listened to the message that the newcomers had transmitted to Matriarch Lidanya for the thirteenth time, before Tevos asked, "When will the translation be finished?"

Looking at her omni-tool, Esheel said, "It should be done within two hours. Their language is similar enough to yours, that our VI are having an easier time than they would've had. It might be finished sooner."

Nodding approvingly, Tevos asked another question, "And when the translation's finished, and we hear what it says, what's our next step if it's a peaceful message?"

Still angry about the losses the Hierarchy suffered against the newcomers, and the embarrassment that would come when the media found out that the newcomers had defeated the Hierarchy, not once, not twice, but three times, Sparatus said, "Blow them out of space."

Sending a glare at her Turian counterpart, and noticing that some of the Spectres and C-Sec officers shifted slightly in agreement, Tevos said, "And risk open warfare against a race that can beat your fleets? What do you think, Esheel?"

The Salarian Councillor, still reading the reports from STG on her omni-tool, didn't bother looking up as she said, "If they're peaceful, we be peaceful as well. No need for hostilities without knowing more about newcomers."

Glaring at his fellow Councillors for putting him on the spot, Sparatus said, "I concur."

Smiling, Tevos said, "Good. And I doubt we need to figure out what to do if it's a hostile message. Otherwise they wouldn't be just sitting in one location."

Looking out of the Lounge window that provided a good view of space, Tevos turned her eye to the two massive Dreadnoughts that were holding position in the system. With a simple mental command, using a neural interface that was only used by Councillors, she had the glass, capable of zooming in on points within the system, zoom in on the larger Dreadnought, to where she could see the main cannons and the missile pods. After looking at the massive ship for a minute, she turned back around, commanding the glass unzoom from the Dreadnought.

Looking at Esheel, she said, "Do we know what that thing's armed with?"

"Yes. Armed with a cannon using magnetic coils to launch a 600-kiloton shell at approximately 30,000 meters per second. Fire slower than mass accelerators, but payload is heavier. Slow enough to where kinetic barriers have a small chance of not catching the round. Their torpedoes are fired in pods, that release a larger amount of missiles, from eighteen to twenty-four per pod. Slower than disruptor torpedoes, and don't use unstable fields to take down barriers. Mainly used against ships with downed barriers, heavy payload is capable of punching through our hulls."

Grinding his teeth together at the knowledge that the newcomers had better weaponry, Sparatus said, "I still don't like it."

Still glaring at him, Tevos calmly said, "Sparatus, if this becomes a peace process, and you do anything to ruin it, I'll personally cut off your reproductive organs and shove them down your throat, before letting a Krogan Battlemaster do whatever he wants with you."

Horrified, and knowing that Tevos was telling the truth, Sparatus gulped and nodded rapidly.

"Good."

The Councillors continued to read through their omni-tools that were constantly being updated by new information from the many different ships, probes, and other devices looking at the newcomer ships, while the Spectres and C-Sec officers fidgeted in anxiety, not liking the fact that the Councillors were so open to attack. After an hour, Tevos, wanting to know what the news were showing, turned on the screen, and watched as an Asari news reporter was talking about the two unknown ships and how the Council and the military weren't saying anything. Changing the channels, she saw that all of them were taken up with the newcomers, whether it being reporters interviewing people on the streets or giving false information that they got from "inside sources".

When the second hour passed, Esheel smiled as her omni-tool beeped and she read the message from the STG, before saying, "The translation's done. They're patching it through to the screen now."

The image on the screen changed from the news reports to the unknown person that seemed to represent the new race. Tevos couldn't help but notice the many similarities between the unknown race and her own, but she didn't have much time to think on it as the message began playing.

"My name is Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi, and I come in peace."

Tevos smiled as she picked up her omni-tool and the three Councillors formed a response.

* * *

In the _Leviathan_, Mawikizi looked at the opposing fleet in front of him, formulating plans in his head if things went south. So far, nothing had happened, with him and Lasky staying at one part of the system, and the other fleet positioned between him and the massive space station.

"Sir, we're getting a transmission from the space station!"

"Patch it through, Ensign."

A string of words that sounded like gibberish played through the speakers on the bridge, and even though Mawikizi had a guess as to what it said from reading Roland's data packet, he asked, "Paul?"

The AI said, "Running translation now. Done. Playing it."

"Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi, the Citadel Council would like to welcome you to the Citadel. We accept your mission of peace, and if you would like, you are welcome to go on the Citadel with a contingent of guards. Please send a reply of acceptance, or if you want to meet someone else, please give the coordinates and process you would like us to take when meeting you."

Mawikizi replayed the message three times, before saying, "So you were right, Paul. The Salarian and Asari must have chose peace, overruling the Turian. How long do you think before we send a reply?"

Paul said ,"I believe that we could send a response immediately, but they may feel threatened and suspicious by the fast response. An hour should be enough time to where they won't be suspicious."

Nodding, Mawikizi said, "Patch me to Captain Lasky. I'm going to need to borrow one of his S-IV teams."

"Done, sir."

With Lasky's face on the monitor, Mawikizi said, "Captain, I'm going to need to borrow a S-IV team."

"I'll send Fireteam Majestic over, Admiral."

"Good. Mawikizi out."

Thirty minutes later, Majestic was stepping out of the Pelican that had taken them to the _Leviathan_ to the sight of Fleet Admiral Mawikizi waiting for him.

"Walk with me, Spartans. I'll inform you on what's going on."

As the Spartans started following him, the Fleet Admiral began speaking, "When we entered this system, I transmitted a message on all frequencies that was stating we were here for peace. Thirty minutes ago, we finally got a reply saying that they accepted the peace offering, and that I was to meet them down on the space station, with a security team. In thirty minutes, we'll send a reply stating that we accept their offer. In the meantime, we'll see what the Citadel looks like and get contingency plans made."

When they got to the bridge, the eight Marines standing guard outside all snapped to attention as the Sergeant yelled out, "Admiral on deck!"

Returning the salutes, Mawikizi said, "At ease, Marines."

Walking into the bridge, which was in a period of little activity, Mawikizi returned the salutes from his bridge officers and Second Lieutenant Michelle Davis, who would be leading the ODST platoon charged with making sure the two Pelicans they were taking would remain secure. Of course the platoon made the second Pelican a requirement, but Mawikizi wanted to make sure that their way out remained untampered with.

"Alright, Spartans, Lieutenant. This is the game plan. Davis, you and your platoon are going to be sticking with the Pelicans while Majestic sticks with me. Now, if the shit hits the fan during the negotiations, and we get fired upon, I want those Pelicans off the ground with your men inside ASAP. Majestic, the meeting will most likely take place in the Chambers, and so we will fall back to the Lounge, from which we can funnel enemy forces in, without having to worry about our backs. The windows are bulletproof, but they won't stand up to a Spartan, so we'll be able to jump down that way. About two hundred meters to the south of where we'll drop down, there's an entrance to something called the Tunnels, where the Citadel's caretakers, called the Keepers, live. Once we're in there, we can extract from anywhere on the station."

Nodding in approval, the Spartans and Davis approved of the plan, before Paul said, "Admiral, do you want me to send the confirmation message?"

Checking the time on a watch that his father had given him before his dad deployed to Eridanus II, a tour that he never came back from, Jean nodded, and said, "Send it."

"Done, sir. The translation software is done as well so. There will be translators down in Hangar Seven for the ODSTs, and if you want the translation software on your neural interfaces, the infirmary is equipped to handle it, Admiral."

Within three minutes, there was a reply to the message.

"Admiral, when you are ready for the meeting, please contact Citadel Control on Frequency Seven-One-Delta. Operate under the callsign of Echo-Two-Three."

"We acknowledge."

After the message was sent, Jean said, "Alright, excellent work, Paul. Lieutenant, I want your platoon ready at Hangar Seven within the hour. Majestic, with me."

Walking out of the bridge, the group split up at the elevators, with Jean and Majestic going to Deck Seven while Davis went to Deck Thirteen. At the infirmary, Lieutenant Commander Danielle Haskins had already set everything up for the transfer, and within minutes, the Admiral and Majestic were unconscious as the translation software was transferred to their neural interfaces.

An hour later, the group of six bid good-bye to Haskins and made their way to the elevator that would take them to Deck Thirteen. The elevator descended to Deck Thirteen, and when it stopped, they were greeted by three engineers saluting their Admiral. Returning the salute, Mawikizi led the way into the hangar, where the ODSTs were waiting, ready to get on the Pelicans.

Spotting the Admiral, Lieutenant Davis sprung to attention and shouted, "Admiral on deck!"

Everyone in the hangar snapped to attention and saluted the Admiral, who returned the salute, and said, "At ease, people. There's no need for saluting at such a monumental moment. Lieutenant, are your ODSTs ready to go?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, send a fireteam on my Pelican, and the rest of your platoon gets in the second one."

The twenty-six ODSTs got on the second Pelican while four ODSTs led by Lance Corporal Rachel Jackson got on the first Pelican with the Spartans and Mawikizi.

Once everyone was set, Jean said, "Kingfish One-One, this is Leviathan. We're ready."

"Roger that, Admiral. Leviathan Control, this is Kingfish One-One, requesting clearance for take-off."

Up in the bridge, Hackett said, "Roger that, Kingfish One-One. You have clearance. Good luck."

"Roger, Leviathan Control. Kingfish One-One is ready, Hangar Seven."

A Lieutenant Junior Grade said, "Depressurizing now."

The crewman still in the hangar had their suits on as the hangar depressurized, and once it was done, the same Lieutenant Junior Grade said, "Opening hangar doors. You are clear, Kingfish One-One."

"Roger, Kingfish One-One lifting."

As One-One lifted off, One-Four followed the Pelican's lead and did the same. Once both of them were vertical and systems were running smoothly, the Pelicans left the hangar with the doors closing behind them.

A kilometer away from the _Leviathan_, Kingfish One-One followed the procedure that had been given to the Admiral, and said, "Citadel Control, this is Echo Two-Three. Send away."

An Asari C-Sec officer calmly said, "Echo Two-Three, I want you to go on Heading Three-Five-Two for two kilometers, before cutting to Heading One-Zero-Three, at which point you are to continue on that heading until I contact you again."

Making the necessary adjustments, the pilot said, "Echo Two-Three copies. Making course adjustment."

From her position at C-Sec HQ, the Asari Matron could see that the two Pelican dropships had done as she said. Siting ramrod straight, she continued to monitor the screens and instruments to make sure that the two transports followed the instructions that had been given to her directly from the Executor. W

When she saw that the Pelicans had changed to Heading One-Zero-Three, she waited for the forty kilometers like she was supposed to, before she said, "Echo Two-Three, this is Citadel Control. You are to change to Heading One-Zero-One, and maintain that course for five kilometers, and then cut to Heading Zero-Two-One for three kilometers, which should put you over the Presidium. When you reach the third kilometer on Heading Zero-Two-One, hover, so I can inform you if anything else needs to be done."

"Roger, Citadel Control. Making course adjustments now."

As the pilot adjusted his course, he said, "Admiral, ETA to destination is six mikes."

"Roger that, Lieutenant. Just take us in how they're telling us. Don't want to get shot down before we even have an attempt at peace."

The Admiral was in his dress uniform, but there were a couple of modifications done to it. A ballistic battle vest was worn underneath the jacket, but above the shirt, to protect him from any snipers aiming for his chest. In addition to his hip holster, which had a M6C, there was a M7 in an ankle holster. Majestic had a set of BDUs, including boots, helmet, pants, and jacket spread out among them, so the Admiral, who had experienced ground combat during the Great War, wouldn't have to fight in something not made for fighting.

Chat in both Pelicans were at minimal levels, the occupants of each too nervous to say anything, knowing that they were making history. When they felt the Pelicans start to hover, the occupants of each readied themselves for the greeting they would get.

"Citadel Control, this is Echo Two-Three. Are we good to land?"

Looking at the Executor and seeing his nod, the Matron said, "You are good to go."

"Roger. Be advised, that we have a platoon of security to make sure our transports are secure. The five heavily armored figures and the one in a dress uniform are the ones that will be at the meeting. All of the others will remain at the transports to maintain security."

The Executor confirmed that it was alright, and so the Asari said, "Understood, Echo Two-Three. But the security is to keep guns pointed at the ground at all times. We have our own security forming a perimeter at the LZ already."

"Thank you, Citadel Control. We're descending now."

The two Pelicans descended down to the surface of the Citadel, and as they got lower to the ground, they could hear the roar of the crowd surrounding their LZ. Once the transports touched ground, the ramp lowered and the first Human to set foot on the Citadel touched ground.

* * *

A.N.: I believe that I went through four different versions of this chapter due to a loose cord, and so I made a lot of modifications. I hope you guys are happy with it. Anyway, a huge shout-out to Andrithir for giving me a couple of great sources to look at for information regarding space.

* * *

_"After the Human-Covenant War, it became clear that the Spartans would not be able to take part in clandestine affairs. They were just too big of a figurehead, and with the Insurrectionists starting to get back to their old activities of bombings, it became clear that JSOC just wasn't the right people to take down Insurrectionist bases. The special operators were getting torn up from hesitating to shoot the drugged-up kids that were shooting at them or running at them with suicide vests. When a whole team of SEALS was wiped out during an operation in the Doradus System, ONI Black Operations took up the job with the creation of Detachment Alpha. They don't hesitate."_

_-Lieutenant Colonel Veronica Dare_


	13. Through the Relay Part Four

On the Brink: Alternate

Through the Relay Part Four

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_"Detachment Alpha is a unit of brave men and women who are willing to play the part of monsters in order to protect the populace from those wishing to do them harm. Their operations are something from a horror story, but with the Spartan-IIs unable to participate in clandestine affairs due to their large profile, they're the only ones able to do it. The main difference between Detachment Alpha and the Spartan-IIs is that the Spartans were designed to participate in clandestine affairs against the Insurrectionists. Take their mission against Colonel Watts before the Great War. They spaced that entire asteroid, killing who knows how many women and children, yet I doubt they lost an ounce of sleep over it. Detachment Alpha is made up of above-average people, many of them from the military, who are willing to play the part of monsters to keep the ones they protect safe from harm. But every time they're forced to kill a child, or leave one of their own behind so the rest can extract, it kills them on the inside. In the five years since they've been operational, thirteen have committed suicide. But their track result keeps this program going."_

_-Doctor Mattie Knight_

* * *

Senior Chief Petty Officer Paul DeMarco stepped out of the Pelican to see that the ODSTs had already formed a perimeter around the two transports, their rifles pointed towards the ground as they looked at the crowd from the cover of their helmets. Outside of the perimeter, Paul could see another perimeter had been set up by what had to be the police, keeping the crowd back. He could see reporters talking to cameras that had been set up so they were in the background, and there were flashes as people took pictures of them. Casting an eye on the rooftops, he could see that they were crowded as well, although there were three nearby buildings that were empty of people on the roof except for snipers walking around and keeping an eye on things.

Turning back to the Pelican, where the Admiral and the rest of Majestic were waiting, he said, "It's all good, Admiral."

The Admiral walked out of the Pelican, and a mass of cheering went up from the crowd, excited to see the representative of a new race. Jean gave a wave in greeting, and observed his surroundings. Nodding in approval of the Presidium, he turned his attention to the three people walking up to him, one from each of the three main Citadel species. They had holstered pistols, and he caught the sight of rifle stocks peeking over their shoulders.

Wearing devices that could only be translators, the Asari asked, "Fleet Admiral Mawikizi?"

Smiling, Mawikizi said, "That's me."

Surprised to see that he understood her without a visible translator, the Asari said, "I am Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. These two are coworkers of mine. The Councillors has requested us to escort you to the Chambers, where the meeting will take place. If you would, please follow me."

They followed the Spectres to the skycars that would take them the short distance to the elevator that lead to the Citadel Tower, and the UNSC personnel got in the same skycar. The ride was silent, with the UNSC personnel not wanting to talk due to the probability of there being bugs, or it could've been from the fact that none of them felt safe in a flying car.

When they touched down and got out of the skycar, they were quickly ushered inside the elevator, where it led them up to the Tower. Once the elevator stopped, they were led by various C-Sec officers and Spectres to the Council Chambers where the meeting would take place.

Arriving at the Chambers, three C-Sec officers allowed them inside to where the potential ending of the conflict between the Turians and the UNSC would end.

* * *

Tevos watched the six newcomers as they entered the Council Chambers, and she could tell that the C-Sec and Spectres shifted uneasily at the five armored figures walking with who had to be the Fleet Admiral.

Smiling widely, Tevos said, "Welcome, Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi, to the Citadel. I hope you've had a good trip?"

Knowing how to play the game despite the few instances where it was needed, Mawikizi smiled back, and said, "I must say, your hospitality is excellent, Councillor."

If it was possible, Tevos's smile would've gotten wider as she said, "Thank you, Fleet Admiral. So, shall I start the introductions? I am Councillor Tevos, the Asari Representative. The other two are Councillor Esheel, the Salarian Representative, and Councillor Sparatus, the Turian Representative."

Knowing that it was best to introduce himself, he said, "I am Fleet Admiral Jean Mawikizi, and I have been given the task of acting as Humanity's representative."

"Humanity?"

At Tevos's question, Mawikizi said, "It is what my race calls ourselves."

Tevos and Esheel nodded, while Sparatus just grunted.

Ignoring the Turian, Tevos asked, "Shall we get down to business?"

At Jean's affirmative reply, the peace process began in earnest.

* * *

"The Asari Republic and the Salarian Union must say that we in no way knew of the Turian Hierarchy's act of war against Humanity until two days ago, at which point we sent a diplomatic vessel through conventional FTL to avoid Hierarchy ships on the way there. We did not support their act of war, and we were trying to force Sparatus to stop the war when you arrived in system."

Not really caring, Jean said, "I'll let my superiors know when I get back in our space."

"Your superiors?"

At Tevos's question, Jean said, "I'm a naval officer, Councillor, not a diplomat. They gave me the authority for a ceasefire, but anything after that is up to the diplomats."

Slightly shocked that there would only be a ceasefire for the time being, Tevos said, "Very well. So, is a ceasefire consisting of Humanity returning to their space through Relay 314 and a Council fleet, not a Hierarchy one, holding position in the system that Relay 314 connects to acceptable? For communication, we can each leave a communications probe in the two systems."

Jean nodded, and the meeting was over.

* * *

A stage had been set up in the Presidium by the time Jean and the Spartans returned to their dropships, the ODSTs visibly relaxing as the Admiral showed up. Tevos stood up on the stage and announced the agreement of a ceasefire to the cheering crowd, before saying that further talks would hopefully happen soon. As the crowd went wild, although there were a few disgruntled people in the crowd, the UNSC personnel got in the Pelicans, and made their way back to the _Leviathan_.

Once they were on board, Jean walked into the cockpit of the Pelican, and said, "Take us out of here, Commander. We're going back to NA-32."

Up in the bridge, Hackett said, "Aye, sir."

As the two ships went through the Relay, no one heard the Turian say, "You'll pay for the death of my brother."

* * *

The Descendants have returned.

* * *

A.N.: So an awful chapter, since I had no idea to go about doing a ceasefire. But it's better than mentioning it in a timeline, in my opinion anyway.

* * *

_"Flying cars? Don't they know how dangerous that is?"_

_-Hades to Knight_


	14. Diplomacy Part One

On the Brink: Alternate

Diplomacy Part One

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or Halo.

* * *

"_London is down! I repeat, London is down! Evacuation Order April! Get the hell out of here, people!"_

_-Radio Operator_

* * *

Ambassador Anita Goyle looked out of the window of the dropship as the massive space station known as the Citadel got larger in appearance as the Pelican approached it. Feeling the excitement bubbling up in her stomach, the former navigation officer could barely remain seated, with her training being the only thing keeping her sitting down. Turning away from the window, she looked at her three fellow Ambassadors.

Donald Udina was a former Army Lieutenant, and her fellow representative of the UEG. Although she considered the man to be an asshole, she couldn't deny that he was good at his job, and would be the bad cop to her good cop, if this was a tv-show about police catching bad guys and putting them to trial. Udina was currently talking to the two Sangheili Ambassadors in their native tongue without the use of translation software, something that she was currently working on.

Ambassador 'Gredun was a younger Sangheili, one who hadn't ever killed a Human. His rapid rise in Sangheili diplomacy was contributed to his ability to read both Humans and Sangheili extremely well, and knowing when he had to be forceful or persuasive. Goyle liked 'Gredun more than the other Sangheili Ambassador, although it could be attributed to the fact that the other Ambassador had been a Shipmaster during the War.

Ambassador Saagan was a former Shipmaster, and had been part of the Battle of Reach. His ship, a CCS-class Battlecruiser, was directly responsible for destroying seven UNSC ships at Reach, and had destroyed another three in a different battle. Despite this, the Ambassador had a good working relationship with the UNSC representatives, although there were a few moments it became stressful.

As the Pelican was flanked by four fighters as it got closer to the Citadel, the pilot said, "Ambassadors, this is your pilot speaking. We are five minutes out from landing at the Hangars. Captain Lasky has arranged transport for you and security has been arranged."

Lasky had been on the Citadel for over a week since the first meeting had arranged the ceasefire, communicating with Goyle, Udina, Saagan, and 'Gredun through a prototype Quantum Entanglement Communications device. Under heavy guard by two rotating Spartan-IV Fireteams, the QEC allowed them to communicate without the need to send slipspace communication buoys.

As the Pelican bumped slightly upon its entrance to atmosphere, the four Ambassadors looked out of the window to see that they were in the Hangars, which had been designed for larger ships instead of the dropship. But as the Pelican navigated through the chaos of the Hangars, they could see that there was an area for transport craft, although the ones there looked like the shuttles used at airports. When the Pelican touched down and the ramp lowered, the four Ambassadors and their guards, four ODSTs and four Sangheili Honor Guards, stood up and walked out.

Stepping out of the dropship, they noticed the crowd being held back by what had to be the police. Although they were unused to seeing so many different species that weren't shooting at them, the Human Ambassadors calmly walked alongside their Sangheili counterparts, looking around in curiosity.

Lasky, who had been talking to a group of police officers and a Spartan, walked over to them, and said, "We've got transport arranged to take you to where we're staying. I trust that Roland got the translation software implanted?"

Nodding, Goyle said, "Yes. So, what's the reception we've gotten here?"

Although he had already told them of the different reactions, Lasky didn't even blink as he said, "Mainly positive, although there have been some negative reactions. The negative reactions seem to be coming from the Turians mostly, who don't like the fact that we appear to have a larger and stronger military than theirs."

Knowing that they were being eavesdropped upon, Goyle said, "Better than being declared Heretics and having a conglomerate of aliens trying to make your race extinct."

The group of five chuckled, even the Sangheili Ambassadors, and as they walked out of the Hangars, Lasky said, "Don't panic when you see the transports they have for us. They have a good system for it."

Goyle asked, "What transports do they use?"

Udina said, "Skycars."

"Oh, crap."

The UEG had entertained the use of skycars for the first couple of years it was possible, but it had become quickly apparent that it was a safety hazard, even with AIs controlling the skycars. If something went wrong, there was a hundred percent chance the occupants of the car would die from the inevitable crash with the ground. And with the Insurrection, although not the movement it would be in a couple of centuries, starting, it became apparent that skycars were not worth it. So the UEG stuck with cars on the ground, instead of flying.

"I swear, Captain. If these things come crashing to the ground, I'll haunt you in the afterlife."

"I look forward to it, Ambassador."

* * *

The conversation in the skycars was of absolutely no importance, merely Lasky informing the four Ambassadors of what they would be asked about, from technology to trading of resources. Knowing of the Council's hatred of AIs, none of the members of what the Citadel races were calling the Coalition mentioned them in their conversation. When the skycars landed in front of the Citadel Tower, the four Ambassadors, Captain Lasky, the ODSTs, and the Sangheili Honor Guards got out, to see the three Councillors standing in front of the Tower, surrounded by C-Sec and Spectres.

Stepping forward, Tevos announced, "Welcome, Ambassadors, to the Citadel."

Smiling, Goyle said, "Thank you for inviting us, Councilor. I can see that great things will happen here."

Only the Turian Councilor wasn't smiling at Goyle's words, although the Salarian and Asari were smiling for different reasons. Unlike Tevos, who truly was happy at the thought of a peaceful integration of new races into the Citadel, Esheel was happy at the thought of having the amazing technology that didn't rely on Element Zero at her hands. After all, if these races joined the Citadel as associate species, she could force them to give up their secrets.

Unfortunately for her, the UNSC and the Sangheili Union had no plans to be members of the Citadel, merely allies.

* * *

Inside the Chambers, the Ambassadors looked at the three Councilors with hidden disgust, listening to their rhetoric about how great the Citadel was and the benefits of joining. But the data package assembled by Roland and Paul had showed them exactly what they needed to know about the Citadel. In the short run it may be great, but in the long one, it didn't benefit any species at all.

The three full member species took advantage of their positions, especially the Turians. Despite their promises to the associate members, like the Volus, of letting them be independent and find prosperity on their own, they did the opposite of that. Restricting their military, they forced the associate species to rely on the Council to repel slavers and Batarian raiders for them, since the slavers and Batarians didn't follow the Treaty of Farixen. And whenever a large deposit of Element Zero, or Platinum, was found, the Turians, Salarians, and Asari immediately swooped in and took it over, citing Council needs. Even if there was a need for it to do something about slavers or the Batarians, they never even gave the associate species a fraction of what they were taking.

Knowing that they wouldn't be made a full member for centuries, if they were ever made into full members, neither the UNSC/UEG nor the Sangheili Union wanted to be members of the Citadel.

As Tevos, doing the majority of the talking, finished her rhetoric with, "The Asari Republics, Sangheili Union, and Turian Hierarchy formally invite you to join the Citadel."

Smothering the smile that threatened to break out, Goyle, who was taking the lead on this one, said, "The United Earth Government must decline this kind invitation."

Immediately, Ambassador Saagan said, "The Sangheili Union must decline this kind invitation as well."

Wearing a shocked look on her face, Tevos said, "May we know why?"

Goyle, having practiced this mentally, said, "The UNSC has no desire to be an associate species, nor a member of the Citadel due to the many restrictions posed on the Citadel. Your Treaty of Farixen limits the number of Dreadnoughts for each race, and your classification of Dreadnoughts are very different than ours. In fact, we have no Dreadnoughts."

Sparatus scoffed, and said, "No Dreadnoughts? Then what do you call that monstrosity out there?"

The Turian Councillor pointed out of the window, which automatically magnified onto the _Infinity_ holding position between the Citadel Defense Fleet and the diplomatic vessel that had taken the four Ambassadors to the system.

"We call that an Infinity-class Capital Ship. The next smallest vessel is a Cruiser. We have no ships known as Dreadnoughts, unless if you count our Wet Navy, but they use Battleships, which were formally known as Dreadnoughts."

Distracted by the term 'Wet Navy', which was something new to the militaristic Turian Councilor, Sparatus asked, "Wet Navy?"

Udina said, "Ships on water."

Sparatus's face was one of shock as he looked at the four Ambassadors, and said, "Ships on water?"

"Yep."

Sparatus was silent as he thought about the insanity of using water for warfare, but even though he could see some benefits, the fact that Turians were terrible swimmers made him come to the conclusion that aqueous warfare was insane. He never once considered the fact that other races could be excellent swimmers.

Tevos said, "If that's the only thing keeping you from joining the Citadel, you did say that none of your ships were called Dreadnoughts."

Seeing that Tevos was desperate if she would bend their own rules like that, Goyle said, "I'm sorry, but the answer remains the same. Your restrictions, along with your past history with associate species, are still turn-offs to joining the Citadel."

Honestly confused by what Goyle meant, Tevos asked, "What do you mean about our past history?"

Udina took over here, and said, "During the fighting against the Turians, we wanted to know what we were facing, so we made forays into your extranet, digging into it like none before. What we found wasn't exactly a positive show of your government. For example, in 2152, the Volus found a large Element Zero deposit in one of their systems. Immediately after announcing their discovery to the Citadel, like protocol demanded, the Turians immediately kicked the Volus out of the system and took it over, using the Element Zero for construction of their ships. In 2176, the Elcor discovered a deposit of Platinum, and after their announcement, the Salarians showed up and kicked the Elcor out. Do you see the pattern?"

Knowing what the Ambassador was talking about, Tevos said, "But those were isolated instances. How can you judge us based off of the actions taken out of necessity?"

Udina hid his predatory smile at this comment, and said, "Those instances were out of necessity, but was seizing the deposit of Platinum discovered by the Volus in 2552 necessary?"

Tevos remained silent, knowing that Udina was right. The Volus had discovered a deposit of Platinum near one of the Independent Republics, and like the Turians and Salarians before, she had immediately seized the deposit for the Asari Republics, for use in constructing a new Dreadnought, despite having more than enough Platinum to make the Dreadnought already.

"And that's our point. Who's to say you don't immediately demand access to our Element Zero deposits?"

Tevos, truly worried now that the UEG and SU wouldn't join, exclaimed, "We wouldn't do that!"

But the Ambassadors remained unconvinced, knowing full well that neither Sparatus nor Esheel would hesitate at ordering them to give access to the Element Zero deposits, something that neither race wanted to do to maintain security.

Ambassador 'Gredun said, "And your policy on Artificial Intelligences is absolutely unacceptable."

There was a silence that lasted a couple of seconds, before Sparatus shouted, "What?"

* * *

A.N.: So, just as a matter of curiosity, what do you guys want to see in this story?

* * *

"_No one expected the Battle of Earth to happen, even though we all knew that it was only a matter of time before the Covies found Earth. And even if it happened in five years, we wouldn't have been ready for it. Why? No one wanted to admit to themselves that Earth's location had a chance of discovery, even with the Cole Protocol. From Lord Admiral Hood to a Private in New Mombasa, no one accepted the fact that Earth's location was a dying secret. But you know what they say. Hindsight's 20/20."_

_-Jerome Romanov, Military Historian_


	15. Diplomacy Part Two

On the Brink: Alternate

Diplomacy Part Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing. And even if I did have the opportunity to own Mass Effect or Halo, I wouldn't want to. I doubt either one would be as awesome as they are with me as head.

* * *

"_Why did we ever employ Mongooses as troop transports in the first place? What's the use of a fast ride if it can't protect the rider?"_

_-Colonel Dmitri Fayette_

* * *

At the shout from Sparatus, the Spectres in the room tensed slightly, fingers resting closer to the triggers than they had been. The sharp eyes of the Sangheili Honor Guard and the ODSTs caught the movement and reacted accordingly, resting their own fingers closer to the triggers.

While the Ambassadors and Captain Lasky caught the movements as well, neither of them reacted visibly, and Goyle said, "Your policy on Artificial Intelligences is unacceptable to us."

"Why?"

Tevos's voice was calm, the opposite of Esheel's and Sparatus's panicky actions.

Goyle said, "Because we use AIs, of course. Why else would we care about your policy on Artificial Intelligences?"

At that, chaos descended in the Chambers.

Sparatus yelled, "Arrest them!"

As the Spectres moved forward, with Esheel agreeing with Sparatus and Tevos taken aback by the sudden chaos, the Sangheili Honor Guards stepped between them and the diplomats while the ODSTs quickly ushered them out, while Lasky remained behind.

"Councilors, we will continue these talks later when you have calmed yourselves."

With that, the Sangheili and the Captain walked out, making their way to the Hangars so they could get off the space station.

Sparatus yelled at the Spectres, "What do you think you're doing?"

Tevos said, "Let them go, Sparatus. We'll talk to them about it with cooler heads. Who knows, they may not be making the same mistakes as the Quarians, letting them become self-efficient. We'll find out tomorrow."

Not happy about it, Sparatus growled out, "Fine, Tevos. But if this proves to be like the Quarians, I'll slit your throat myself."

Tevos said, "But of course, Sparatus."

* * *

The next day, Captain Lasky and the Ambassadors were escorted by Elite Honor Guards and Fireteam Talon, who replaced the ODSTs that had been used as guards the last time. No one, not even the person with the least knowledge about politics ever, missed the fact that the ODSTs had been replaced by the Spartans, a sign that the talks had gone rough. The Coalition personnel were ushered straight into the Chambers, and they all noted the snipers on the upper levels with guns ready to go. As the Spartans and Honor Guards spread out, ready to move at a moment's notice, the three Councillors arrived, surrounded by heavily armed and armored Spectres.

Tevos said, "Since we ended things on a bad note yesterday, I'm going to ask that we don't get to that topic until the end, so we can work out everything before we start arguing again. Agreed?"

The Ambassadors nodded, while Lasky walked off to the side to confer quietly with a Salarian military official about who the hell knows what.

Councillor Tevos started things off, "Since you have declined the invitation to join the Citadel, I'm going to skip all of the things that go along with that, such as how much will you be contributing to the Citadel Defense Fleet and other combined-race fleets, and go straight to trading and possible alliances. Is that fine?"

Goyle said, "That's acceptable."

Smiling, Tevos said, "Now, all three of us will take our turns speaking, on behalf of our three respective governments. On behalf of the Asari Republics, I would like to extend an offer of trade between our two governments. From the information you've given us so far, you don't use Element Zero, but you do use Titanium for armor and ship-building. Is this correct?"

At the nods of the four Ambassadors, Tevos said, "Unlike you, we don't use Titanium except for certain purposes, and we rely on Element Zero for all of our devices. So we would like to trade Element Zero for Titanium. I believe a kilo of Titanium for a kilo of Element Zero is acceptable."

Goyle looked at Udina and the Sangheili Ambassadors, communicating purely through eye movements and looks. Being hunted down to extinction taught you many things. When they finished, the Councillors, Spectres, and C-Sec officers looking at the quartet in shock, Goyle looked at Tevos, hidden amusement in her eyes.

"Despite the fact that Element Zero is much more expensive than Titanium, we accept. Give us a couple of months to set it up."

Tevos nodded, before saying, "The Asari Republic would also like to request open borders, so our people can take vacations to your worlds if they wanted to. The same would apply to you as well."

Goyle, already knowing what her fellow Ambassadors were thinking, said, "We'll have to confer on that later. Although we are Ambassadors, we do not have absolute authority in making decisions like this. Can we get back to you on it at a later date?"

Tevos nodded, and then motioned for Esheel or Sparatus to speak. The Salarian spoke first, offering the same trading as the Asari did. Goyle and the others noticed Tevos's slight frown at the offer, and they had to hide their smiles when the frown deepened when Goyle accepted. The UEG had hundreds of worlds and a multitude of systems within their space, and there were a lot of sources of eezo that had been quarantined by the UNSC and the resurrected CMA. And with no uses, besides the future research of biotics and how to get biotic-capable people without exposing babies in utero to dust-form eezo, there was plenty of it to go around. What Esheel said next, though, took everyone by surprise.

"The Salarian Union would like to trade medical technologies."

Goyle, who had guessed that the Salarian Councillor would ask for technolgoy, was caught by surprise at the fact that it was medical instead of just technology in general. But the Salarians were all about information and technology, and it wasn't a secret that mass effect technology was stagnated, with slight advances in various fields. And you could tell a lot about a race's technological scale by their medical advances.

Goyle said, "I'm sorry, but the answer's the same as the one regarding open borders. We don't have the authority to make a decision like that."

Esheel nodded, smiling, and said, "That's perfectly alright, Ambassador."

Sparatus was predictable, requesting eezo like the other Councillors, and military technology. Unlike with the other Councillors though, the Coalition Ambassadors were able to outright deny the request of military technology, and after that, it was the Ambassador's turn to talk, and there was only one topic that the Councillors were wanting to hear.

Artificial Intelligence.

* * *

Udina took the lead on this one, saying, "Well, we all know what this particular topic is about. As you know from yesterday, the races that we represent use AIs. After looking at your history in the information packet that you had sent us, we can see why there's such an obvious fear and hatred of them. But unlike the Geth, we have not built any platforms for our AIs, so they are purely virtual, and not physical. And our scientists that work on the Artificial Intelligence projects are extremely skilled at their jobs, and so we don't have to worry about our creations turning on us."

While Esheel and Tevos understood the hidden meaning in the last sentence, the Turian Councillor showed just what type of person he was when he stuck his foot in his mouth, saying, "But they're AIs! They'll always turn on you!"

Udina turned a cold look on the Councillor, and asked, "Your only experience with Artificial Intelligence was with the Geth, and the Quarians didn't even handle the situation properly. If you want, we can show you what our AIs are like."

Sparatus was silenced from replying by the cold glare sent to him by Tevos, who quietly talked to Esheel about the matter. After a minute, they reached a decision, not even consulting the Turian about it.

"We would like to see one of your AI."

Smiling, the Human Ambassador withdrew a chip from his pocket, and said, "Custer, would you like to show yourself?"

The mini-holographic projector installed within the data chip, one of the newer variants for the Sixth Generation AIs, activated as an avatar of an American calvary officer of the 19th Century, with an old Winchester rifle in his grip. At the sight of the avatar, and knowing that it was an AI, the Spectres and C-Sec officers shifted nervously, their eyes intently looking at it, but they didn't shoot, knowing that Tevos and Esheel would have their asses if they did. The Turian Councillor glared at the avatar, full of rage at the audacity of the Coalition to introduce an AI, and not be killed on the spot for it. Tevos and Esheel both looked at the AI in curiosity, trying to figure it out.

Esheel said, her voice full of wonder at something technologically new, "It has an avatar? Amazing."

The Salarian Councillor began to mutter to herself as she observed Custer, the AI that had been assigned to the Ambassadors. Tevos was observing the AI in astonishment, surprised to see that it was almost like a VI, except that it wasn't.

As they continued to look at the avatar of Custer, Udina said, "Custer here is a Sixth Generation "Dumb" AI. What that means is that he is only capable of learning what is in his specific field, which is diplomacy. Besides simple concepts like mathematics or some sciences, Custer knows nothing outside of his given field. The other type of AI we have is called "Smart" AIs. They are capable of learning anything from their environment, instead of something from one given field. So they could be knowledgeable in an array of subjects, ranging from astrophysics to music."

The rest of the conversation about the Coalition's use of Artificial Intelligence carried in much the same manner, and by the time the Ambassadors and their escorts left, the two Councillors who weren't Sparatus knew much more about AIs and how the Quarians use of them went wrong.

* * *

A.N.: So, I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. As you probably noticed, I'm not good regarding matters of diplomacy, and so I didn't go into as much depth as I wanted. And the Artificial Intelligence section could've been a lot better, in my opinion, but the sources I used were conflicting. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it.

* * *

_"Despite the fact that we have not yet found the elusive Forerunner Archives, all sorts of our technology has been improved. Our Sixth Generation AIs have the capability of processing at not twice, but three times the speed and quantity of the Fifth Generations. And rampancy has not yet happened to the first Sixth Gen, and it's been over thirteen years since he's been in service. Our medical technology's increased by loads as well, to where Humanity no longer ages after the age of thirty. This is done by way of nanobots and our Neural Interfaces. I don't understand it fully, so you'll have to talk to Doctor Halsey or Doctor Glassman about it. Biofoam's a thing of the past with the invention of medigel, which uses nanotechnology to heal wounds almost instantly with application of external nanobots, quickening the process that your internal nanobots are doing."_

_-Major Edwin Hoyt_


	16. Ceremony

On the Brink: Alternate

Ceremony

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_"Cerberus will be the guardian of Humanity. Even if Humanity hates us for it."_

_-The Illusive Man, A.K.A. TIM_

* * *

**September 25, 2593**

**Mentiath Station, Epsilon Keyes (Formerly U-71)**

Mentiath Station, named after Colonel Acono Mentiath, was a hive of activity as ships left or entered its many hangars, two of them even capable of fitting Infinity-class warships, bound for trade routes that spanned across the majority of the galaxy. With two Relays within the system, the system was almost never crowded, with the Custom inspections being carried out by Human and Sangheili personnel going by swiftly, yet effectively. Despite it only taking five minutes, the Custom inspections done at Mentiath Station was the best in the galaxy, capable of finding even the most hidden illegal objects, demonstrated by a bag of red sand sitting in a maintenance locker being found in a freighter, without a single Customs officer setting foot in the freighter until the red sand was found.

With soured relations between the Turians, who didn't like the fact that they were soundly defeated during the Relay 314 Incident, and the Batarians, who didn't like the fact that the UEG and Sangheili Union, under a combined front known as the Coalition, had started to settle the Attican Traverse and Skyllian Verge, Mentiath Station was protected by the Keyes Defense Fleet, consisting of an Infinity-class warship, the _Ultimatum_, three Juno-class Carriers, ten Athens-class Heavy Cruisers, thirty-one Atari-class Light Cruisers, forty-seven Thames-class Destroyers, sixty-seven Chicago-class Heavy Frigates, and eighty-one Tenacious-class Light Frigates. Under the command of Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Steven Hackett, the Keyes Defense Fleet could go toe-to-toe against any fleet in the known galaxy and emerge victorious, except for the London, Eridani, and Home Fleets. Besides the Defense Fleet, Mentiath Station had other defenses.

The Station fielded three energy projectors, eight Super MACs, twelve MACs that were capable of being withdrawn into the superstructure, over a hundred oversized-Harrison Missile Pods, and over a hundred 20, 40, and 50mm point-defense cannons. With Mentiath Station being thirty kilometers long on the side facing the Relay, ten kilometers tall, and going back over twenty kilometers, the Station was easily capable of holding ships, personnel, and its defenses with ease, and the massive energy requirements needed to maintain everything was easily provided by the eight Thor-class Reactors, the discovery of the elusive Forerunner Archives boosting the energy output of all Coalition reactors.

In addition to its external defenses, Mentiath Station held many sections that weren't open to the public, and only accessible by Coalition military personnel. Three divisions of UNSC Marines, the 118th ODST Division, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Army Airborne, the 17th Force Recon company, a MARSOC platoon, three Spartan-IV Fireteams, the 19th and 22nd Marine Air Groups, and a team of Spartan-IIIs were stationed on Mentiath, at least according to the public records capable of being accessed by those without Olympian Clearance, which was above Top Secret. If you had an Olympian Clearance, you would know that Mentiath Station had a little more than what was listed. Three NavSpecWar teams, specifically SEALS, were stationed on the Mentiath, along with two Detachment Alpha teams. These operators conducted Black Operations against the Turians, Batarians, pirates, slavers, mercenaries, and any other unsavory group participating in the Cold War against the Coalition. Supported by Battle Group Y, a seventeen strong force, made up of seven Prowlers, nine Stealth Frigates, and one of the seven Kelvin-class Stealth Destroyers created by the UNSC. But that was only the UNSC-side of things.

The Sangheili provided their own share of support with the Fleet of Courage, a hundred-and-seven strong fleet that was attached to the Keyes Defense Fleet. Their infantry forces were as deadly as ever, the Sangheili utilizing Wraiths, Phantoms, upgraded-versions of the Banshee known as Witches, Vampires, Scarabs, and a number of upgraded personal craft, such as the Ghouls. Their plasma weaponry was even better than before, and collaboration with UNSC weapon specialists and scientists turned the Hunters into deadly, walking tanks. With their support, it was almost impossible to take Mentiath Station. But after the Great War, no one from the Coalition said something was impossible.

Today was an important day for the galaxy, as the shutdown of all travel through Relay 314 was being lifted by the Coalition. Barely two months ago, Batarian-sponsored pirates, slavers, and mercs had teamed up to attack the Coalition where it hurt, and after receiving intel from an unknown source, suspected to be Cerberus, the group launched an attack on Mastodon, one of the Outer Colony worlds that had been lucky and avoided the Covenant's attention during the Great War. The attack had happened in two prongs, with one attack hitting Elysium, one of the colonies set up in the Verge. When a third of the Keyes Defense Fleet responded to the attack that had overwhelmed the twenty-three ship strong Coalition Battle Group, the rest of the slavers, pirates, and mercs arrived through the Relay, and rushed to the Relay, over three hundred ships, including three Dreadnoughts, in total. Despite the devastating fire from the Defense Fleet and Mentiath, over a hundred ships, all three of the Dreadnoughts included, made it through Relay 314 and as soon as they arrived in Epsilon Cole, formerly known as NA-32, entered FTL, inbound for Mastodon.

As the attack on Elysium was repelled quite easily, although the resistance under the command of Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard had a harder time than the Battle Group, led by the Thermopylae-class Heavy Cruiser, UNSC _Agincourt_, the pirate fleet emerged from FTL, and quickly slaughtered the small UNSC Task Force holding position in Mastodon's system. But Lieutenant General Williams was a crafty sonofabitch, according to Lord Admiral Terrence Hood, and with the resurrected 7th Calvary Regiment (Air Assault), 53rd Armor Division, 502nd PIR, and a team of Eclipse mercenaries, he outsmarted the enemy, baiting their Frigates to enter atmosphere in pursuit of his squadrons, leaving their hulls open for direct shots by mass drivers. But the pirates had overwhelming numbers, and launched a ground attack that battered Williams and his forces, capturing and killing quite a number of civilians.

Fortunately for the defenders, seventy-three UNSC ships arrived in system, led by the _Ultimatum_. With FTL vectors blocked, the enemy had nowhere to go as the UNSC achieved space dominance and counter-attacked. As terror spread across Coalition territory in fear of another attack, all transit between Citadel and Coalition ceased as security was reaffirmed. Today, transit would resume, after a ceremony being conducted by Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett to reward Lieutenant General Williams and Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard for their actions on Mastodon and Elysium, respectively.

As the personnel assigned to Mentiath Station went about their business, a shuttle ferried Lieutenant General Williams and Alicia Shepard to the hall where the award ceremony would take place. Both of them were in their dress uniforms, the two warriors standing proud as the shuttle neared its destination. The six ODSTs in the shuttle with them carefully kept an eye out of the windows, their tours supporting Detachment Alpha teams keeping them rather paranoid. When the shuttle stopped moving, and the doors opened, the ODSTs led the way out, with Williams and Shepard following.

Cameras flashed as the roar of the excited crowd, mostly civilians with some military mixed in, hit their ears, but both of the experienced combatants didn't let the sudden noise affect them as they looked at the crowd, following the ODSTs to where Fleet Admiral Hackett was waiting. When the Lieutenant General and the Lieutenant Commander reached him, Hackett smiled at them both as he raised his hand, instantly silencing the crowd.

"It is my honor today to be with these two heroes as we recognize them for their duties in stopping the Skyllian Blitz. Without them, I fear that the Blitz would have turned out much worse."

As the moment turned sober as the crowd, Admiral, Williams, and Shepard thought about the Blitz, Hackett said, "First, I would like to present Lieutenant General Alexei Williams with the Legion of Honor, the highest honor one can receive in the UNSC, for his actions during the Battle of Mastodon, and showing extreme amounts of honor and courage during the fighting, leading the defense from a foxhole with the rest of his men. You deserve it, Lieutenant General."

The crowd applauded as Hackett hung the medal from Williams' neck, who said, "Thank you, Sir."

Hackett smiled again, then turned to Shepard, saying, "Now, Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard. For your actions on Elysium, where you rallied your fellow UNSC serviceman and those civilians who wanted to fight for their homes against the pirates, slavers, and mercenaries who dare set foot on one of our colonies, it is my honor to present you with the Legion of Honor, our highest honor. You deserve it, Lieutenant Commander."

The crowd applauded and cheered again as the Legion of Honor was hung from Shepard's neck, and Alicia said, "Thank you, Sir."

After that, a bunch of politicians spoke, raining praises on Williams and Shepard, getting the civilians even more rowdy, even though it was bullshit, and all of the military personnel attending the ceremony knew it. The only person who's speech meant anything to the military personnel was the speech said by President Donnel Udina, who's appearance was merely a holographic picture of him sent from the White House in Washington, D.C., back on Earth.

"It is my honor to give a speech at this ceremony rewarding two of greatest heroes today, although I was unable to attend. It is without a doubt that the Skyllian Blitz would have been much worse without the actions taken by these two during the attacks. With much honor, it is my pleasure to announce the promotion of Lieutenant General Alexei Williams to General. Congratulations, General."

The crowd, both military and civilian, applauded at that announcement, and Hackett pinned the fourth star to William's lapel, before it hushed as Udina started speaking again.

"I am also proud to announce the promotion of Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard to Commander. Congratulations, Commander, " here, Udina paused and let the crowd cheer, while Hackett handled changing the insignia on Shepard's lapel, before saying, "But that is not all I am announcing today. Today, I am announcing the beginning of the Second War on Terror, which received a resounding vote of approval from Congress. And our first step in this War on Terror is to attack the pirates, mercenaries, and slavers who carried out the attacks on our colonies where it hurts. President Udina out."

Absolute silence followed his announcement, and not just on Mentiath Station.

* * *

Afterwards, Fleet Admiral Hackett sat at his desk in his personal office on the Infinity-class ship _Supremacy_, Commander Alicia Shepard and General Alexei Williams sitting in the chairs in front of him. Hackett sipped at his tea as he read the reports scrolling in on his TACPAD, Shepard and Williams nursing their own tea and watching the Admiral's face. When he finished with the last report, he looked up to see that their cups were empty and his was as well. _  
_

Putting it down, he said, "Commander, General, things aren't looking good for the Coalition right now. Sure our economy's at an all-time high with our companies getting huge successes with the Citadel races, and our military's at it's strongest it ever was. Our government listens to the people, and we've got the Loyalists on the run, and the Innies are unable to bomb our population centers anymore thanks to the efforts of our special operations teams. But the truth is, one little spark will take it us down, and I'm afraid that Udina's Second War on Terror will be it. Already, we've got locations on bases throughout the Terminus Systems, and strikes are being developed. But Udina wants Tier One elements to carry out the attacks, but the SOCOM is overwhelmed as is, keeping the Insurrectionists from launching terror attacks and targeting individual Loyalist elements. Shepard, you're an N7, you know how it is. And you were a Screaming Eagle during the 80's, Williams. And this is where you two are coming into play. Lord Hood gave me permission to start a multiracial task force to conduct the War. Udina's expecting an all-Coalition force to take the fight to those who wish us harm. But there's too many people out there who would like to see the Coalition disappear and become a myth like Atlantis. From here on out, you cannot talk to anyone about this operation unless approved by myself, Lord Hood, Admiral Parangosky, or former Colonel Andrew Harrison. If you don't wish to participate in this operation, known as Colossus, you're welcome to leave this office now. I'll give you ten minutes to make your choice."

With that, Hackett walked out of his office.

* * *

When he walked back in, he wasn't surprised to see that Williams and Shepard were still sitting in their chairs.

With a smile, he sat in his chair, handed them two folders containing paper documents, and said, "Read through them, and tell me what you think."

There was silence for thirty minutes as they both read through them, with Williams, experienced at reading folders like these, finishing first and waiting for Shepard to finish.

When she finished, she said, "Sir, if this is true, this is amazing."

Alexei said, "ONI? Or Hades?"

Hackett smiled at the wit of his subordinate, and said, "Hades. You think Parangosky's ONI could handle something like this? No, it was all Detachment Alpha's doing."

Shepard, taking a glance at the document in her hand, said, "So, where do we sign up?"

* * *

A.N.: So I tried to make this chapter detailed, but also vague. If it worked, then yay, and if it didn't, well I'll have to fix it next chapter. I'm currently undecided if Shepard's going to be a Spartan or not, so far, I'm leaning towards her not being a Spartan, because I'm not a big fan of the IVs. But we'll see.

To KasumiCain: I have decided that your wish shall be fulfilled, as you are probably the most faithful follower and reviewer I have.

* * *

_"Our relations are rather bad with the Citadel races, especially the Turians and Batarians. The Hegemony doesn't like the fact that we're busy colonizing the Attican Traverse and Skyllian Verge, getting more influence within the Terminus Systems while we're going about it. They complain about the fact that it was their territory, but they've had centuries to colonize it, and they didn't. Now they're paying the price. And unlike the Citadel, we're not going to let their slavers and pirates take our people. Not without a heavy price on their part for that matter._

_The Turians respect us, but the Hierarchy doesn't like the fact that we whooped their asses during the Relay 314 Incident, and they're trying to keep us from getting much influence. Unfortunately for them, Tevos and Valern both like us._

_Our relations with the associate members like the Volus, Hanar, and Elcor trade with us, but other than that we don't talk to each other at all._

_The Quarians are is an unknown factor. We let their Migrant Fleet move through our Relay systems, and we've slightly upgraded their tech and ships for them, thanks to the Engineers. They've been asking us to provide them with weapons or assistance in the taking of their homeworld from the Geth, but we haven't made a decision yet. Our AIs, led by Cortana's searching down the Geth infiltrators on the extranet, to try and open up talks. If it doesn't work, we'll assist the Quarians in taking their homeworld, by proxy of Eclipse or Blue Suns._

_We've got untold opportunities now. They better be seized."_

_-Dwayne Chen, ONI Section Four_


	17. Torfan

On the Brink: Alternate

Torfan

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not used for profits of any kind.

* * *

_"We like to think that we're not the monsters in this war, but as more and more horrific things are done by our forces, it's becoming obvious that we're not any better than the Loyalists. _

_The Glassing of Doisac: The Infinity and Battle Group Dakota, along with the Sangheili's Fleet of No Remorse, slaughtered the Loyalist fleet defending the Jiralhanae homeworld; With orbital dominance secured, they began the glassing of Doisac; It is still a ball of glass today_

_The New Doisac Massacre: Barely two months after the Glassing of Doisac, and a month after the Massacre at New Beirut, Battle Group 17 showed up at the system, which was lightly guarded by the Loyalists; Led by the Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser Say My Name, Battle Group 17 engaged the enemy fleet, and despite medium casualties, secured dominance in space; At Rear Admiral Brett Hanson's order, Battle Group 17 opened up on the planet with MACs_

_EP-16: A Battle Group, reinforced by several Sangheili ships, showed up in system, and bombarded the planet before sending in ground forces; There were no Loyalist survivors_

_These are only three instances showing the barbarity showed by our forces in the pursuit of the Loyalists in revenge for everything they've done to us, and our Sangheili allies. If this goes on, I fear how far we will go before we realize how barbaric we've become."_

_-Doctor Dante Hayes, "A History of the Coalition-Loyalist War"_

* * *

**October 17, 2593**_  
_

**Pegasi Alpha System**

**UNSC _Say My Name_**

The Thermopylae-class Heavy Cruiser known as the _Say My Name_, the same name as the Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser famous for its bombardment of New Doisac, waited at the edge of the system, its limited stealth ability keeping it off of the radar of the pirates, mercenaries, and slavers that were in the system with it. External cameras were giving Captain Adam Douglas a live feed of the happenings in the system, and were also sending a live feed to Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett at the bridge of the UNSC _Supremacy_. As intelligence was collected and attack plans made, the two officers observed the footage while chipping in on occasion. _  
_

As a Blood Pack Cruiser got extremely close to the _Say My Name_, Hackett said, "Captain, are you capable of moving further in-system without being spotted?"

The Captain, not taking his eyes off of the footage from the cameras, said, "Yes, Sir."

"Good. Now, those three Dreadnoughts on your side of the asteroid could give us fits. We've got three observers from the Asari Republics with the attack force, and we can't afford to engage them dead on, and risk rounds hitting the asteroid. Normally we wouldn't give a damn about collateral damage, but if these observers see us doing that, then it could end up harming the Coalition. So you're going to have to get within knife-fight range, and engage when I say. Can you do that, Captain?"

Douglas nodded, and Hackett continued, "Once you've taken out the three Dreadnoughts, as I have no doubt about the abilities of a Thermopylae-class Heavy Cruiser, I want you to drop off ground forces and engage the enemy from their rear. They'll be caught between a hammer and an anvil. And the advance troops on the ground will keep them busy. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Alright, start moving. Let me know once you're in position, and wait for my go order."

"Aye, Admiral."

"Good luck, Captain. Hackett out."

As the Fleet Admiral winked off of the screen, Douglas said, "Lieutenant O'Bryan, get us moving."

The navigations officer said, "Aye, sir. Moving to destination."

The Thermopylae-class Heavy Cruiser moved extremely slowly through space, trying its best not to get any unwanted attention. As the large fleet moved through the system, searching for any possible probes or stealth ships that could relay the position of its base, Douglas wondered how they missed the _Say My Name_. Despite its painting, now standard for all Coalition ships, that blocked it from radar, it was hard to miss an almost-two kilometer long ship. Regardless though, the _Say My Name_ made it behind the three Dreadnoughts with only a few close calls.

"Admiral, Captain Douglas. We're ready."

Hackett looked at Douglas, and said, "Good. Wait for my go order."

Turning to look at someone off-screen, Hackett said, "Commander Arawak, take us through the Relay."

A shouted, "Aye, Sir" was the response, and less than a minute later, over a hundred Coalition ships appeared in Pegasi Alpha, the majority of which were UNSC ships. The _Supremacy_ was at the lead of the fleet, the massive ten-kilometer flagship a fearsome sight to the unsavory types on the bad end of its guns. Ten CVS-class Battlecruisers and two CAU-class Assault Cruisers made up the Sangheili involvement, and the rest of the force was made up of another Thermopylae-class Heavy Cruiser, multiple Light Cruisers, two Carriers, and the rest were Destroyers, Frigates, and several Tiger-class Corvettes, their designs giving them a lot of mobility and speed, letting them get within knife-fight range without getting ripped apart.

As the enemy formed a defensive line before Torfan and the Coalition ships, Hackett said, "All ships. Go."

* * *

When the Coalition fleet rushed the fleet that was defending those in charge of the attacks on Elysium and Mastodon, their weapons charging and firing solutions being made, the _Say My Name_ made its move. Having positioned behind one of the Dreadnoughts, which was a couple of generations behind and about three times smaller than the Thermopylae-class ship, Douglas crashed the ship right into the Dreadnought, knocking it aside while the energy shields around the Cruiser flickered, and the hull was scratched under the impact. As the Dreadnought reeled from the hit, its kinetic barriers gone and hull bent under the force of the _Say My Name, _Douglas opened up on the wounded Dreadnought with his point-defense weapons, lances of energy slamming into the unprotected hull of the ship before a Blackfoot missile was let loose. The plasma contained within the missile ate at the hull even further, and the Dreadnought became dead in water. To make sure that the Dreadnought didn't have a shot at his rear, more lances of cobalt hit the hull and even inside of the ship, killing the entire crew within a minute. In the time it took to destroy the first Dreadnought, one of the remaining two had turned to face the _Say My Name_, letting loose a salvo of disruptor torpedoes, as the Dreadnoughts and the Cruiser were within knife-fight range.

The torpedoes didn't stand a chance against the point-defense of the Heavy Cruiser, and only three hit the energy shield, and the random and unstable mass effect fields barely brought the shield down one percent. A salvo of Blackfoot missiles bypassed the kinetic barrier with ease, and ate away at the hull, opening the Dreadnought for a large lance of energy to leave the Heavy Cruiser and strike the Dreadnought's eezo core, and the ship exploded, the escaping oxygen igniting enough to where the external cameras on the _Supremacy_ could see it.

As it turned to face the threat behind it, the Dreadnought didn't even get a chance to make a targeting solution before another lance of energy left the _Say My Name_'s bow energy projector, and tore through the kinetic barriers and hull of the ancient Dreadnought. Like the second Dreadnought, the deadly energy hit the eezo core, and the crew never had a chance to escape as the Dreadnought was simply gone. No big explosion or fireworks, as oxygen didn't have a time to escape the doomed ship.

With the three threats eliminated, Douglas said, "Ground forces, go."

* * *

Lieutenant Edward Buck sat in the heavily modified SOEIV created for Spartan-IVs, and did a final check of his pod and his gear before the _Say My Name_ released him, Fireteam Viper, the 3rd Recon Battalion (ODST), 57th Tactical (Special Operations Capable), and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Maritime Contingency Force) to the surface of Torfan. As the scan of his pod finished, confirming that his primary chute, reserve chute, and the pod as a whole was in top shape, Buck allowed himself to think of the irony that the name of the ship inserting him into Torfan was the same as the ship that had inserted him into Earth. His thoughts were interrupted before he could go any further at the other members of Fireteam Viper.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Taylor H. "Dutch" Miles yelled out, "Wooh, we're finally getting some action!"

As Petty Officer Third Class Michael "Mickey" Crespo joined in with the excitement, Buck couldn't help but smile at the antics of his squad, the very same with which he had fought on Earth. With Mickey, Dutch, and Petty Officer Second Class Kojo "Romeo" Agu joining in the fun, Buck and the Rookie both remained quiet, letting them enjoy the moment, knowing that Lieutenant Commander Veronica Dare would be on the soon enough, telling them to shut the hell up.

Buck opened up a private channel with Rookie, and said, "Hey Rookie, I bet that the Lieutenant Commander will be on in a minute telling them to shut the hell up."

When there was no response, Buck groaned, and said, "Fucking sleeping again. Why am I not surprised?"

A minute later though, Dare came on the net, and said, "Romeo, Dutch, Mickey. Shut the hell up, and let me brief. Then you can make a private channel and be as loud as you want. And someone wake Rook up."

Romeo said, "Got it, Commander."

He picked up his SRS101-S3 sniper rifle, and in the same fashion as all other drops, hit Rookie with the stock, the MJOLNIR GENIV armor taking the blow, while waking the Rookie up.

Seeing that everyone was paying attention to her, Dare said, "Good, you're all listening. Now, while our brothers and sisters with the Marine Corps are going to directly engage the enemy as soon as they hit ground, we have a different mission. Friendly elements are already on the ground, all of them hardcore Tier One special 're going to be dropping in to the west of our main element, and linking up with the Tier One elements. Once we link up with them, we're to breach the compound, hopefully clandestinely, and attack these bastards from the rear. When we link up, we'll be under operational command of a man named Hades. He's a pro, so listen to him. Any issues?"

Although Romeo and Mikey both had issues regarding taking orders from a Tier One element, they kept quiet, knowing that Veronica knew what the hell she was talking about. Dutch, Buck, and Rook had no issues with being under the orders of someone else, and although no one who saw his face would notice, Rook was slightly excited to operate with a Tier One unit, having slight issues with the S-IVs, who were little more than an expeditionary branch. While waiting, Rook listened to Romeo, Mickey, and Dutch joking around, while Buck and Dare were getting briefed on a private COMs channel.

After a minute, he became slightly bored of listening to his teammate's chatter about nothing, and decided to check his weapons and gear. Instead of doing it the current way, with his GENIV armor doing a scan of his gear, he did it the old-fashioned way by testing all of his gear. The VISR, even better than the one taken from the Prometheans on Requiem, was tested by him switching to AR, and watching as anybody within fifty meters of him was revealed and marked as a friendly. Satisfied with his VISR, he exited AR, and began to check his armor for any chinks in it, knowing that energy shielding could only be tested on the battlefield, and he didn't feel like having Dutch shoot XP rounds at him and scaring most of the crew with the explosive rounds. When he was sure that his armor would hold up under fire, he quickly took his M11S, letting the suppressed pistol form in his hands like the Promethean weapons on Requiem, and stripped it, checking each individual part before he put it back together, and let it collapse onto his armor again. He did the same with his M12 and his SCAR-M, no longer a bull-pup rifle like the MA5 and MA7 series of rifles, instead the new series of weapons, slightly based off of the weapons used by the Prometheans on Requiem, were frontloaded, like the late 20th and early 21st Century rifle series.

All three of his weapons were modified in a style that was popular among special operations, and was most commonly called SOPMOD. The M11S had an AimPoint IRNV laser under the barrel, for assistance in aiming during night ops, and an Eisley 2x scope was integrated with his HUD. His M12 had a RDS on it, the small dot allowing for more pinpoint fire, but his SCAR-M, the medium sized of the series, was something else entirely. An AFG gave him excellent control of the SCAR's recoil, and an ACOG sight on top of the gun gave him the capability of engaging the enemy from a distance of six hundred meters, with fifty rounds a clip. But that was on a good day, and Rook preferred to get within three hundred meters of the enemy before engaging.

Just as he put the gauss rifle in its holder within his drop pod, an announcement came over the _Say My Name_, "All groundside-bound forces, be prepared for leaving. We'll be over the asteroid in one minute."

That minute was one of the longest of his life, with only New Jerusalem and New Mombasa taking longer for the drop. When the ready light switched from red to green, illuminating him for just a second, the pod dropped out of the bay, hurtling down towards the surface of the asteroid. Rook cursed when music came through the net used by Fireteam Viper, and after a moment, he recognized it as 'Epic Sax Guy', an old video that Romeo had found on the net and became obsessed with it. There went the peace and quiet he had been hoping for.

The drop went without a hitch for the S-IVs, except for the 'Epic Sax Guy' music, although the same couldn't be said for the ODSTs that dropped in with them. Three of the SOEIVs failed their primary chutes, although the reserve chutes successfully deployed, but the three ended up with several broken bones apiece. When the pod hit ground with a thud, Rook waited a couple of seconds for his pod to conduct a scan of the nearby area, to make sure he didn't get ambushed as soon as he stepped out of the pod. Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he magnetized his M12 to his armor and let the SCAR-M form in his hands. With a simple button push, the pod opened up, and he got out, quickly taking a knee as he brought the rifle up to his shoulder and searched for targets. Finding none, and seeing where Dare and Buck had met, he made his way over to them.

Romeo and Mickey beat him to the two officers, and he could see Dutch hurrying over to them, the M6 Grindell/Galiliean Nonlinear Rifle being held proudly in his arms, a M12 magnetized at his right ankle. Why he had the M6 in hand instead of the M12 Rook would never know, but as he watched a rocket get flung into a shuttle, he admitted that it would be nice if they were attacked by air power.

Turning to Dare, he watched as she talked to someone on a private COM channel before the ONI Operations specialist switched back to their COM channel, saying, "Alright, we're meeting up with an element a klick east. I'm marking it on your NAV markers in case we're forced to separate. Keep camo on, and don't engage without making sure it's silent. We can't get compromised before we even start."

The Spartan-IVs flickered green lights to show they understood, and without a sound or shimmer like the early models of active camouflage, the former ODSTs disappeared from sight, and began making their way to the rally point. They could hear the gunfire as the ODSTs and Marines that had been inserted onto the planet clashed with the mercenaries, pirates, and slavers that were behind the assault on Elysium and Mastodon. But they resisted the urge to engage the enemy, knowing that whatever they were doing had to be important, although Romeo took a couple of shots with his suppressed SRS101-S3, taking out three gunships and two mechs that were giving an element of Marines fits. They made good progress to the rally point, only stopping twice to let a shuttle and a gunship fly overhead, and even though they regretted the decision after hearing the two air vehicles open fire on the assaulting forces, they knew it was best.

When they reached the rally point, there was no one there. Rook switched to AR, and wasn't surprised when he saw that cloaks were being used, although he was surprised to see that the Tier One element was made up of more than ten people. IFF tags identified the members of the group as Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard, N7, Hades, DA, Knight, DA, Devil, DA, but as he looked at the seven other armored and cloaked figures, he inhaled slightly in surprise at their identifications. Commander John-117, Blue Team, Lieutenant Junior Grade Fred-104, Blue Team, Chief Petty Officer First Class Linda-059, Blue Team, Chief Petty Officer First Class Kelly-087, Blue Team, Lieutenant Tom-B292, Yellow Team, Master Chief Petty Officer Lucy-B091, Yellow Team, and Petty Officer Second Class Olivia-G192, Yellow Team. At the realization that they were dealing with the predecessors to the Spartan-IVs, Rook and the rest of Fireteam Viper were silently in awe to meet the legends that the S-IVs after the _Infinity_-era had been told about.

Seeing that the S-IVs had noticed them, the Spartans, N7, and DA turned off their active camouflages, revealing the fact that they wore very different attire. The S-IIs wore MJOLNIR MKIX, an armor that had been designed for them, and genetically locked like the new GENIVs. Rook had read up on the specs of the MKIX in his free-time, and he was in awe of the armor. Its shields could take a five-second pounding from a M193 LAAG, or survive a plasma grenade straight to the head. And that was just the shielding. The armor itself had all of the armor abilities that had developed over the years, including active camouflage, the ability of throwing up a hardlight shield to take extra rounds, VISR, better known to the Requiem generation as Promethean Vision, sprint boost, and the S-IIs had a choice between using a thruster pack or a jet pack. As he looked at the S-IIs, he saw that they were all using thruster packs instead of the jet packs that were on the backs of the three S-IIIs, who were using SPI MKIIIs. Compared to the S-IIs' and S-IIIs' armor, he felt that the GENIV was a little underpowered. But as he looked at the N7 and DA operatives, whatever DA was, he felt better about his own armor.

The four special operators were wearing Lightweight Urban Assault gear, which looked uncannily like favored SOF gear back in the 21st Century. They had lightweight, nanocarbon armor protecting their chest, back, and parts of the legs and arms, while the lightweight nanofiber that made up the fabric of the gear added a sliver of extra protection. Having seen ONI Black Ops teams in action, he knew that the gear was good for rapid in-out attacks, not standing engagements. He saw that their chest riggings were filled with ammo for their SCAR-L rifles, M11S pistols, and he saw that the four each had a lighter version of the SRS101-S3 rifle, known as the Tracker Jacker, a deadly vespid from an old 21st Century book called the Hunger Games. The rifles were outfitted with dual sights, the normal Oracle 36x scope, and an ACOG sight, linked to their AR glasses for rapid targeting, foregrips and bipods, with suppressors bringing about the stealth that they were known for.

His thoughts were broken when the Chief, who despite his rank of Commander was still referred as Chief, said, "Alright, the assault's starting to kick off."

As if to confirm, a salvo from M-177 Mages let off, the cluster munitions landing in the base, wrecking havoc on the defenders.

"We're going to be moving in from the southeast, and unlike our fellow ground-pounders, we're going stealth. The southeast is only watched by three squads, and a single tank. No problem at all for us to take out. Once we're inside, we're going straight into the base itself. It goes three hundred meters into the rock, and there's an HVT with interesting COM traffic. We're going to set a KAOS tactical nuke inside, capture the HVT, and get out to extraction. I want guns quiet at all times, unless we get compromised. At that point, be as loud as you want. Understood?"

Green lights flickered to let him know that they understood, and he said, "Good. Let's move."

The multi-branch force fanned out in a wide wedge, making sure that not all of them would be taken out in case they were compromised, and made their way to the enemy base, which was being hit constantly from a variety of munitions, ranging from stray small-arms fire to the heavy munitions used by the Mages. Linda and Romeo, the two snipers, were on point for the group, occasionally halting them to scan the area for patrols, but with the enemy focusing on the heavy ground assault being conducted by the ground forces deployed from the _Say My Name_, there were none, and the augmented personnel moved with impunity towards the enemy base.

When they reached the southeast entrance to the base, John called a halt, and with carefully chosen positions that allowed them to see just about everything on their side of the base without the enemy seeing them, the group marked the enemy squad positions. One squad was positioned on the rooftop of a building, obviously wanting the high ground in the case of a firefight, but with Romeo and Linda marking their targets and waiting for the word, the enemy squad wouldn't know what hit them. Another squad was with the tank, acting as infantry support if the armor had to maneuver anywhere. The final squad was holding position behind two barricades just inside the compound walls, each of them armed with weapons designed to fling the most amount of lead downrange, although accuracy was an issue for them.

"Hannibal Two-One, Sierra One-One-Seven. Requesting a single salvo on enemy armored target."

The Major commanding the battery of M-177 Mages, the current generation of mobile artillery, said, "Roger, Sierra One-One-Seven. Mark your targets."

Bringing up his SCAR-H, he let loose the laser that was invisible to the naked eye, which sent the location of the enemy armor to the probe that had been released by the _Say My Name_, where the process was finished when it sent the information to the targeting computers of the battery.

"Target is marked."

Looking at the targeting computer of one of the Mages, one of four, the Major said, "We've got your target, Sierra. Firing solution locked. All guns, fire!"

The battery of four guns fired, sending the equivalent of an Archer missile downrange at the enemy tank. When it got halfway to the target area, the four shells split open, releasing their payloads in a cluster formation. The mini-bombs all hit their marks, several of them taking out the tank while the rest handled its surrounding squad.

"Target's down, Hannibal. Thanks for the help. Sierra out."

With the main threat to them removed, the group moved into their positions. Fireteam Viper took up a position that would allow them to bring heavy fire on the squad that had surprisingly maintained their positions at the barricades despite the loss of the other squad, while Romeo and Linda remained in their natural spider holes, ready to wipe out the squad up on the rooftop. Blue Team, Yellow Team, and Shepard's detachment of Tier One operators took up positions that would give them the best jump-off points for the attack on the defenders.

"Go."

At John's command, the operators all jumped off the attack. Romeo and Linda engaged the squad on the rooftop, heavy rounds slamming into the soft targets, the two Spartans putting rounds downrange at a rate that everyone besides the two wondered who they had targeted first. As the last sniper fell, a rocket fired by Mickey hit one of the barricades, the M72A3 LAW sending three mercenaries, two Batarians and an Asari flying into the air before a second one left the launcher, hitting the other one, turning a Turian's brain to mush at the explosive force of the rocket. Fred, Tom, and Buck put their bipods down, giving them stable firing positions as eXPlosive rounds left their LMGs, the miniature explosions causing kinetic barriers to fall and the defenders to have their chests blown open in a shower of gore. The other augmented forces moved forward steadily, their suppressed rifles hissing as rounds passed through their barrels to targets downrange. The hardlight rifles easily passed through any barriers and armor, finding the flesh underneath.

Within a minute, the _blitzkrieg_ was over, with the squad of mercenaries existing no longer. They policed the bodies, searching for any useful intelligence, but finding none, they downloaded the communication software so they could listen in on the enemy communications. Hiding the bodies, they set off towards the entrance of the underground portion of the base, using the hacked communications to help them find it. In cloak, they waited outside the entrance, which was using automatic doors inserted into a cave, as it would be stupid to not move in with a group, and alert the defenders to the fact that they were in there.

They waited for five minutes, with cluster munitions dropping all across the base, before a large enough group went through the doors, with the seventeen Humans among them. Once inside, the team stealthily made their way through the underground base, staying in active camouflage for as long as possible, and when they had to let the armor recharge, they hid in the shadows until they were good to go. As they moved through the base, they noticed that the artillery bombardment of the base had ceased with the ground-shaking, and as they heard the comms go off with panic as the actual ground assault started off, they knew that there was very little time before the HVT tried to get away.

Dropping their active camouflage, the large group surprised the lone squad of mercenaries that were in their hallway, and their suppressed weapons let out silent coughs as rounds slammed into the heads of the mercenaries, taking them out before a gun could even be brought up. Hiding the bodies, the group continued on, weapons coughing silently as they moved through the base, taking out anybody that was in their way, and as the comms came alight with the discovery of the dead squad, they didn't bother hiding the bodies anymore, as time was of the essence.

Following the instructions being relayed through the comms, they continued their pursuit of the HVT until they made it to a door leading into a cavernous room, where the defenders had set up a trap for them. Listening, they found that snipers were posted on the catwalks throughout the room, and Krogans were waiting on the ground floor along with various squads. Knowing that no matter what, they would be caught dead to rights when they came through the door, the Chief took a second to think, before pulling out a flashbang, with Fred, Linda, and Kelly repeating his action while Shepard and the others made sure they had full clips, and checked their motion trackers to make sure that they knew where the enemy was.

"Execute."

Kelly smashed the door open with her foot, throwing in a flashbang, followed by Linda, Fred, and John releasing theirs. After the grenades designed to stun the enemy went off, John led the way in, Shepard right behind him, followed by Blue and Hades's team. Yellow and Viper brought up the rear, making sure that no one came up on their six.

His SCAR-H was up on his shoulder, the muzzle flashing as hardlight rounds were flung downrange at a rapid rate. Two Turians dropped as their barriers overloaded and a round went through their skulls, before an Asari and several Batarians joined their dead comrades in whatever life existed after death. As Shepard, the rest of Blue, and the Detachment Alpha operatives joined in the fight, their guns kicking into their shoulders as heads and chests erupted in blood before they were forced to take cover as the survivors of the onslaught got their bearings and returned fire. As his shields flared gold from the mass accelerated rounds punching holes through his cover, John popped back up, and let off several bursts, taking down an Asari and a Batarian, before the rest of the hostiles returned fire.

As he ducked back down, he saw Shepard's hands glowing blue, and three seconds later, a shockwave passed through the Turians, Batarians, and Asaris that were pitted up against some of Humanity's finest as Shepard let her biotics go. With the enemy stunned or dead from the powerful display of biotics, it was an easy mop-up of the remained for the Humans, and as the last Asari was killed by Knight shooting her in the back of the head, they continued their pursuit of the HVT.

John's motion tracker lit up with movement, and he said, "We've got thirty hostiles, twenty-five meters and around the corner. Be ready for a fight."

Green lights met his statement, and fully-loaded magazines were loaded, Romeo and Linda both switched to non-XP ammunition, and Hades' team drew their M18Ds, the shotguns loaded with 10 gauge flechette-XP rounds, sending out a deadly amount of tungsten darts to the target, where a small thermite charge would detonate after three seconds of being in a body, the temperature causing the remote sensor to activate.

John threw in a flashbang, waiting for the blinding light and loud sound grenade to go off before moving into the next hallway, his SCAR-H up against his shoulder and letting out a flurry of accurate hardlight rounds as he moved to the closest piece of cover, where he swapped out magazines, and popped out of cover to lay down another flurry of fire as Shepard and Hades moved forward, the N7 dual-wielding her M11Ss, her HUD allowing her to fire both accurately. The Detachment Alpha operative pumped the M18D as a flechette-XP round was let loose from his barrel, the multiple darts burying into the Asari's chest as her hands glowed blue for a second before her chest exploded in a shower of blood as the explosive darts detonated.

"Watch out for biotics!"

As he drove a few rounds through a Batarian's head as he tried to run from cover, John watched from the corner of his eye as his motion tracker started lighting up with movement coming from around the corner.

"Hostiles coming around, right corner. They're in a group!"

Switching to eXPlosive rounds, the seventeen-strong squad started firing when the reinforcements came around the corner, the rounds exploding upon impact, and with explosions going off at their feet and kinetic barriers, the reinforcements dropped like sacks, although a few on the far side of their comrades did manage to get into cover, which didn't last for long as Rook and Dare threw a frag grenade each at the group, and the screams told them that the grenade had been effective.

"Move forward."

At the Chief's command, Shepard and Blue Team moved forward under the covering fire provided by Hades, Knight, and Devil, while Yellow and Viper kept their backs clear of enemies, of which there were very few as the ones behind them were either dead or focusing on repelling the Marine assault into the underground portion of the base. John could see a shadowy figure hiding in a corner of the room, holding a sniper rifle as the figure sighted in on Fred. He brought up his SCAR-H, and let loose a burst that saw the Batarian become visible as he dropped to the ground with a clatter.

As he rounded the corner, he saw the Asari glowing blue with her biotics, and he raised his SCAR in an attempt to kill her, but the shockwave was released from the Asari, and despite the neural augmentations done across Coalition space giving them some resistance against biotics, the mercenary's biotic wave sent him flying into Kelly who had just rounded the corner, and he heard the rest of Blue Team and Shepard curse as they slammed against the floor. Still keeping a hold of his SCAR, and seeing stars from the impact against the ground, he tried bringing it up and lining up a shot on the merc, but Hades beat him to the punch as the Asari's chest burst open in a shower of blood as the Detachment Alpha operatives came around the corner.

Getting back up, John got moving again, the Detachment Alpha operatives waiting for them at the end of the hallway, three other hostiles besides the Asari lying dead on the ground. There was a door at the end, and John wasted no time in trying to hack the door, instead he brought up an armored foot and slammed it into the door. The metal door, reinforced against explosions, couldn't stand the brute force brought down by the Spartan, and bent inwards, before a second kick brought it down. With his HUD automatically switching to night vision to accumulate the darkness of the room, he raised his SCAR as his shields flared gold as rounds bounced off of his shields. Finding the source of fire, he fired a burst of hardlight rounds that slammed into the Salarian, the XP rounds exploding on impact.

"Room clear."

The rest of the UNSC personnel entered the room, which turned out to be one of many security rooms spread throughout the compound.

"Uh, Chief? You may want to see this."

At the words of the N7 Commander, John walked over to the series of terminals that Shepard was looking at. He leaned down a bit to see over her shoulder, and he watched as several shuttles were loaded up with explosives, before lifting off, escorted by gunships. As the aircraft left the landing pad, obviously on a one-destination mission, John kept his eyes on the monitors as he got on with Colonel Robert Grist, commanding the ground attack on Torfan.

"C-Two, Sierra One-One-Seven. We've got multiple enemy shuttles loaded to the max with explosives headed your way. They're being escorted by four gunships."

In a M-1 Johnson IFV, Grist looked at the constantly updated imagery from the satellites, and spotted the shuttles and gunships moving towards the battlefield, and said, "Roger that, Sierra. Thanks for the warning. Good hunting. C-Two out."

As a flight of four AV-42 Harrier Attack VTOLs moved towards the threat, John said, "Let's get moving. The HVT won't stay here forever."

Blue led the way out, followed by the Tier One operators, with Viper and Yellow covering their rear, same as before. They expected to hit more resistance as they left the security room, but surprisingly, not a single bullet was fired at them. Not wanting to waste their luck, the UNSC personnel made their way through the base, moving fast, yet cautiously, wondering why they hadn't been engaged. But as the sound of a frag grenade reached their ears, meaning the grenade had been set off close to the Spartans and Tier Ones, they knew why.

"Sierra One-One-Seven, C-Two. How's the hunt?"

As he entered another security room, and did a quick check of the monitors to see if they could see the HVT, John said, "It's going, Sir, but there's been no sign. We're hoping he'll show up soon."

With the Johnson IFV in the middle of the base, Grist said, "Roger, Sierra. The added pressure should help. C-Two out."

With gunfire echoing around the base, the UNSC personnel moved fast, and hit hard. The defenders, surprised that the enemy was so far ahead, didn't stand a chance against the overwhelming force brought down upon them, and quick intelligence searches revealed the location of the HVT, who was at the landing pad, waiting for a shuttle to get through the air defenses set up by the UNSC assault force.

And here, a major difference between the tactics of the Coalition and the Citadel races was seen. When fighting against the Council in the Terminus or the Attican Traverse, shuttles were almost never targeted by AA fire or even intercepted by gunships, allowing leaders to get evacuated fairly easily and keep leading the fight against the tyrants of the Council, or lead the fight for money. But the Coalition was different. Shuttles were specifically targeted by the Harrier gunships, those carrying M6 Grindell/Galiliean Nonlinear Rifles or M72A3 LAWs, and even atmospheric fighters, denying the unsavory forces on Torfan the ability to maneuver their forces. **  
**

As a red beam of death brought down another shuttle, killing the squad of mercenaries and their pilot, the UNSC personnel inside the base continued to press the attack, bringing down three M808D Scorpion Main Battle Tanks into the base, utilizing the M582 LAAGs and the 120mm Smoothbore cannon to great effectiveness at taking out enemies, the canister shells acting like a giant shotgun and taking out whole squads with a single blast.

"Sierra One-One-Seven, Odin One-One. We've got orders to support you. Where do you need us?"

John looked at the map on his HUD as Odin's location appeared on it, and said, "Move forward five hundred meters to your northwest. I'll provide further orders when you're there."

Lieutenant Jason Webb looked at his own map and plotted the course, saying, "Aye, Commander. ETA five mikes."

The massive treads of the M808D Scorpion MBT started to roll as Webb pushed the throttle forward, and the M514 120mm Smoothbore cannon raised elevation slightly as it targeted a squad of mercs moving into cover before firing, the canister shot sending pellets tearing through the kinetic barriers and armor of the mercenaries, killing them instantly. As they rolled through the tunnels, its two M582 LAAGs and canister shells dishing out extreme amounts of damage to the defenders, the crew couldn't hear the cries of those they killed, only the sound of the treads and the firing of the cannon.

John watched the progress of the tank for a couple of seconds before he got back on track, and the infiltration group started moving again, intent on taking the HVT down. A squad of Batarians tried to put up a fight, but Shepard and the Detachment Alpha operatives just rolled right over them, literally, and put bullets in their backs from point-blank range. With no resistance after the squad of Batarians, the UNSC personnel had no problem beating Odin to the rally point, just barely a hundred meters away from the landing pad.

"Sierra, Odin. We're rolling into the rally point now."

The Scorpion just rolled over a barricade that had been put in front of the entrance to the room that was the rally point, and when all of the treads had settled on the ground, a hatch on top of the tank opened up, and Lieutenant Jason Webb popped out of it like a gopher, a large smile on his youthful face.

"So, where do you want us, Chief?"

The S-II said, "Follow us. We're hitting a landing pad a hundred meters out. Kill anything you see."

"Aye, sir. Ready when you are."

As Webb got closed the hatch behind him, Knight said, "Good to see that young kids are still excited about the fight."

"Let's move."

With Linda on point, the group set out, the Scorpion following behind them, M582s watching the rear while the main gun was traversing from left to right. When they reached the door to the landing pad, Devil stepped forward, carefully placing a C-17 explosive on the door, enough force to open a hole big enough for the tank. At John's nod, she pressed the clicker, and the explosive went off with extreme force, the door vaporizing as part of the wall turned to rubble so the tank could roll through.

They were in the landing pad before the dust settled, searching out the targets who posed the most threat and taking them out while their shields flickered from enemy fire, causing them to take cover after they took out those who could force them to stall. Most of the fire came from marksmen up on the catwalks that were on all four sides of the landing pad, which would be big enough for an Albatross to land, but the defenders spread cover throughout the pad to help in their defense, and not even a Harrier could land. Four defense turrets were positioned on each corner of the pad, their heavy weapons raking fire along the Scorpion, its golden energy shields flickering before the turrets were taken out by a simultaneous launch of the four Cobra Missile Launchers that were on the M808D, providing relief to John's group, who had been pinned by the withering fire. As the M514 boomed and a bright flash followed by the noise of an explosion lit up the landing pad as the round struck a catwalk, sending the marksmen positioned there to fall to their deaths, followed by the M582s lighting up the catwalks, boiling away armor and sizzling flesh as the snipers fell under the onslaught. With the enemy threat on the catwalks neutralized, the UNSC personnel were free to focus on the Terminus forces to the right and left sides of the landing pad.

"Blue, on me. Yellow, head up the other right ramp. Shepard, handle the left with Viper and Mythic."

Green acknowledgement lights winked at the Chief as Linda, Kelly, and Fred moved to him and Olivia, Tom, and Lucy moved to the other ramp on the right side of the landing pad. Shepard, Mythic, the DA team, and Viper were at the other two ramps, waiting for them to move.

"Yellow, focus on the left side of the room to avoid friendly fire, but make sure your backs are secure. We'll handle the right and the middle."

Loading a 40mm grenade into his launcher, Tom said, "Aye, sir. Ready when you are."

"Shepard, you ready?"

"Ready."

Prepping a flashbang, he said, "Execute."

With that one simple word, the Terminus warriors' lives became even more hellish.

Tom and Fred both let loose with their 40mm grenades at the same time, the airburst taking out three hostiles that were caught in their blast radius while sending shrapnel through the air and causing kinetic barriers to fail or lose some of their strength. After the grenades had been fired, John and Olivia both let loose the pins on their flashbangs and threw them into the room, and the two teams of Spartans began moving forward so they could capitalize on the incapacitating grenade after it went off. When the flash went off, the Spartans moved in, lances of energy hitting targets with supreme accuracy. Within fifteen seconds, every hostile in the room was dead, including the HVT.

In the left part of the landing pad, things went much the same for Viper and the Tier One operators. Mickey had let loose with a rocket from his M72A3, killing five of the defenders, while Shepard and Hades threw in their flashbangs to disorient the defenders. Shotguns up again shoulders, the Detachment Alpha operatives ran up the farthest ramp from the door with Shepard, her hands glowing blue as she prepared her biotics to unleash on those who earned her wrath. Viper went up the other ramp, Buck, Rook, and Dare the only ones carrying assault rifles while Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo had their M12s out. Energy rounds left the rifles and submachine guns, easily tearing through armor and kinetic barriers, dropping their targets with ease.

"Room secured, Chief."

"Likewise, Shepard. Odin, how's the pad?"

As a burst left one of the M582s, Webb said, "Pad secured, Chief."

"C-Two, Sierra One-One-Seven. We've got the landing pad secured, and there's a dead HVT."

Sending a video feed to Grist, John knelt down by the dead HVT, and made it so there was a clear picture.

"Good work, Commander. Now plant that KAOS and get the hell out of there. We're bugging out."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

The UNSC forces had wiped out the mercenaries, slavers, pirates, and other Terminus forces during their assault on the base, and as they left the base, leaving a KAOS Tactical Nuke at the landing pad, there weren't any hostiles to stop them. Once they were in the exterior of the base, a Harrier Dropship picked them up to return them to the _Say My Name_, and as they entered the hangar, the KAOS detonated, wiping all physical evidence of the Terminus fighters ever being there.

* * *

A.N.: As you can see, I'm going to follow the ME-verse, but with a Halo-twist added to it. Did I say I was doing that last chapter? Oh well, doesn't hurt to repeat it if you guys didn't catch it.

Anyone want to take a guess as to how I got the name Jason Webb for the Scorpion tank commander? It's a small shoutout to a favorite series of mine.

* * *

_"To: Lord Admiral Terrence Hood, Chief of Naval Operations, UNSC Navy; Vice Admiral Margaret Orienda Parangosky, Director of Naval Intelligence; Rear Admiral Serin Osman, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, Operations_

_FROM: CODENAME: SURGEON_

_SUBJECT: COLOSSUS_

_WARNING: BY UNSC DIRECTIVE I-003, IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE REQUIRED CLEARANCE TO VIEW THIS DOCUMENT (CARDINAL), YOU WILL BE TRIED AND PUNISHED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW._

_'Admirals,_

_COLOSSUS is officially beginning, with the recruitment of Lieutenant General Alexei Williams and Commander Alicia Shepard. Vice Admiral Steven Hackett facilitated their recruitment, and the General is heading to [Redacted] for training, while the Commander has been transferred to the [Redacted], where she will act as [Redacted]'s XO, and act as XO for Commander [Redacted] during ground operations. She's an N7, so she'll fit right in. _

_In other news, several of Hades's sources have confirmed where the base for those behind the Elysium and Mastodon attacks is located. Already, Vice Admiral Hackett is heading to Torfan to show the galaxy that we're not to be trifled with. After Torfan, we'll go through with Phase Two and [Redacted] will start the pursuit of the Spectre. K has reported that the Shadow Broker hired him to take out [Redacted]. We've already come up with the perfect act of recruitment. The Spectre won't know what's coming for him._

_Regards,_

_ SURGEON'_


	18. General Message

**Changes**

**As of Friday, October the 4th, this account will be going under some changes, mainly in organization and where stories are put.**

**Due to the early chaos that this account had, we who write under this penname are deleting and rewriting these stories, which will be put under different accounts.**

**These are the changes that will be happening:**

**Voldermort's Pets (Rewrite) will be discontinued on this penname, rewritten, and then posted under a different penname, at which point we will post a message on that story alerting you to the change, which will be up for a week, at which point we will delete the story.**

**What Just Happened will be discontinued, undergo a massive rewrite, and then previous chapters will be replaced on a weekly basis, so we don't flood you with the whole story. The story will be posted under this account, so stay tuned.**

**Bella Swan: Navy SEAL will be discontinued, undergo a massive rewrite, and then posted under a different penname, a different one from Voldermort's Pets (Rewrite). When this happens, we will post a message to alert you, and then seven days later, Bella Swan: Navy SEAL will be deleted from this account.**

**Not What They Expected will be discontinued, undergo a massive rewrite, and then posted under a different penname, most likely the same one as Voldermort's Pets (Rewrite). Like with the other stories, we will post a message to alert you, and then the story will be deleted a week later.**

**Back In Action will be deleted, permanently. **

**On the Brink (Rewrite) is undecided. It is up for grabs if we will delete it in its entirety, or if we will do another attempt at rewriting it. Stay tuned.**

**On the Brink: Alternate will remain active, and it will be updated on occasion as these changes take place. **

**Predator: The Hunt Continues is going to be discontinued, rewritten, and then gradually the rewritten chapters will be posted. **

_Other Stuff: _

_We will make two new accounts in addition to this one._

_One account will deal with stories involving smut._

_One account will deal with fanfiction stories involving Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and other stuff that will be soon figured out._

_This account will deal with ME, Halo, Star Wars, and stuff like EndWar, Ghost Recon, Battlefield, and possibly Call of_ Duty.

Current Projects:

Here We Go: An EndWar fanfiction that takes place after the second book, _The Hunted_. Follow a Marine Recon team in the jungles of Vietnam to a CIA SAD team in the frozen wasteland of the Tunguska impact zone. This is the End of War.

Resistance: Earth refused to go quietly into the night and wait for Commander Shepard to get the Council races to unite and retake Earth. The Reapers took special interest in Humanity for a reason.

This Is War: Everybody portrays First Contact between the United Nations Space Command and the Systems Alliance as a peaceful occurrence. Two different cultures, two different governments, two different technology types, and one race. That spells chaos to us.

Who Cares Hermione?: SPEW. That is all.

Don't Stop, Don't Falter: "Don't stop. Don't falter. Keep moving. Hit them hard, and hit them faster. We've got ten million civilians riding on us here. We will not fail them." The Final Battle For Menzian. Human-Covenant War.

Not Every Story Gets a Happy Ending. Not Every Morally Right Side Wins: The Reapers have gone through thousands of cycles for a reason.

Please. Save Me: Being trapped in a cupboard under the stairs is not good for anyone. Especially a kid who never knew different. Harry Potter fanfic.

This is the End: The Protheans fought the Reapers for hundreds of years, but they were worn down until only Feros was last. Then the Reapers showed up.

Into Darkness: One thing can change a whole universe. Harry Potter Universe

_**Future Projects:**_

**_The Final_****_ Push:_**Hogwarts is in Voldermort's hands. An end to a very different Wizarding War.

**_Volterra:_**Aro/Bella pairing, because hey, some of us like an evil story.

_**Lost In the**_ Echo: Shepard survived the final push against the Reapers. But not all of her crew did.

**_Who Wants To Live_ Forever?:** The tale of the United States Marine Corps against the Russian Federation. A Modern Warfare 3 fanfic.

**_A Different Side of_ Story-Telling:** The SSV _Agincourt_ wasn't at Elysium. Despite the excellent leadership of Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard, the Terminus fleet and ground forces razed the human colony to the ground. And took her with them.

**_No_ Greed:** A Black Ops 2 fanfic where the sister of Raul Menendez was never burned by a greedy American landowner.

**_The Zombie War:_** Takeo, Rictofen, Dempsey, and Nikolai weren't the only survivors.

**Eagles:** The tale of the 101st Airborne Division in the Human-Covenant War.

**Dragoons:** The tale of the feared 17th Mountain Division in the Human-Covenant War.

**Rangers: **The tale of the 75th Ranger Division in the Human-Covenant War. Rangers lead the way for a reason.

Well, that's about everything. So stay tuned for more information.


End file.
